The  Dissolving  Circle 


"Her  lithe  body  pressed  close;  throbbingly  close" 


The  Dissolving  Circle 


By 
Will  Lillibridge 

Author  of  "Ben  Blair,"  "Where  the  Trail 
Divides"  etc. 


New   York 

Dodd,  Mead  &  Company 

1908 


COPYRIGHT,  1908,  BY 
DODD,  MEAD  AND  COMPANY 

Published,  March,  1908 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

FOREWORD i 

CHAPTER 

I.     OBLIGATION 7 

II.     THE  LETHE  CLUB 16 

III.  CANCELLATION 30 

IV.  THE  INITIATION 43 

V.    ABANDON 54 

VI.     THE  AFTERMATH 71 

VII.    A  GLIMPSE  OF  THE  PROBLEM            ...  81 

VIII.     EULA  FELKNER 96 

IX.    ACQUAINTANCE 112 

X.     MASQUERADE 126 

XL     UNDERSTANDING 141 

XII.     THE  ANCESTRAL  CALL 160 

XIII.  REVELATION       177 

XIV.  ASHES       194 

XV.    THE  IRONY  OF  AGE 213 

XVI.    A  BREATH  OF  THE  WILD    .....     .  226 

XVII.     THE  CRISIS       242 

XVIII.     DISILLUSIONMENT 252 

XIX.    THE  HEART  OF  WOMAN 266 

XX.    THE  RECKONING 280 

XXL     BY  THE  ARBITER'S  STANDARD       ....  298 


M575165 


FOREWORD 

SIOUX  FALLS,  SOUTH  DAKOTA 

As  distinctly  as  individuals,  cities  have  personalities. 
Gay,  careless,  defiant,  dignified,  sordid,  sombre,  phleg 
matic,  nervous,  restless,  up  and  down  the  gamut  they 
go,  mirroring,  as  the  surface  of  a  sluggish  stream 
the  face  of  the  chance  observer,  the  predominant  char 
acteristic  of  those  who  live  within  their  limits;  with 
age  changing  slightly,  superficially  perhaps,  but  be 
neath,  throbbing  on,  on  for  the  space  of  generations 
with  the  guiding  impulse  whose  insistent  demand  gave 
them  birth. 

Time  was,  and  to  many  of  the  Middle  West  it 
seems  not  long  past,  when  the  red  man  was  more  than 
a  mere  puppet  of  fiction.  In  evidence  thereof  a  gov 
ernment,  which  seldom  countenances  the  unnecessary, 
established  near  the  junction  of  what  are  now  three 
great  States, -and  not  far  from  the  confines  of  a  fourth, 
a  barracks.  It  was  the  beginning  of  the  age  of  land 
hunger,  not  the  fierce,  unsatisfied,  unsatisfiable  longing 
which  now  a  generation  later  holds  the  nation  in  its 
grip,  which  makes  the  hundred  thousand  gamble  and 
struggle  for  tiny  tracts  their  fathers  passed  disdain 
fully  by,  but  its  discriminating  precursor  which  from 
a  bounty  seemingly  inexhaustible  chose  the  fairest  of 
the  fair. 


2  Foreword 

Westward,  ever  westward,  from  the  overcrowded, 
comparatively  infertile  East  came  the  young  men, 
the  middle-aged,  the  restless  spirits,  the  unsatisfied, 
the  rovers,  the  adventurers,  searching  out  the  secrets 
of  the  new  El  Dorado.  Accustomed  to  frequent 
farms,  and  small,  to  nagging  elbow  contact  with  con 
fining  neighbours,  to  soil  thin  and  rock-besprinkled, 
to  stumps  and  clayey  hills,  what  wonder  the  reverse, 
the  boundless,  all  but  uninhabited  prairie  vistas,  the 
soil  pungent,  brown-black  as  split  walnut  to  the 
depth  they  buried  their  dead,  should  have  intoxicated 
them,  should  have  sent  them  on,  on,  on  beyond  rail 
road  terminals,  on  beyond  the  trail  of  the  stage,  on 
by  the  slow  passage  of  prairie  schooner,  on  until  very 
surfeit,  like  the  tardy  moral  of  a  feast,  brought  its 
realisation  that  boundless  as  was  the  surround 
ing  wealth,  each  could  grasp  and  hold  only  a 
definitely  prescribed  portion  thereof?  What  won 
der  again  that  at  last  in  reactory  weariness  of 
endlessly  rolling  prairies,  the  comparative  border 
ing  roughness  of  a  swift  little  stream,  the  sugges 
tion  of  familiar  home  scenes  in  the  fringing  maples, 
ash,  and  willows  of  its  banks  should  bid  them 
halt;  that  with  the  oft-repeated,  oft-magnified 
tales  of  Indian  cruelty  and  of  massacre  in  their 
ears  the  tiny  barracks  with  the  handful  of  regulars 
it  sheltered  should  have  been  a  potent  loadstone  direct 
ing  the  point  where  manifold  hitherto  aimless  trails 
should  converge,  that  this  spot  should  be  the  instinc 
tive  location  of  a  city  of  the  future? 


Foreword  3 

Like  the  grain  fields  which,  following  the  influx  of 
the  newcomers,  sprang  from  the  surface  of  the  broken 
sod,  a  town  arose ;  a  municipality  which,  inevitably  as 
the  law  of  heredity,  partook  of  the  nature  of  its 
founders,  of  the  character  of  the  land  amid  which  it 
was  born:  a  town  impatient  of  restraint,  sublimely 
independent,  throbbingly  vital,  ceaselessly  active,  neu 
trally  tolerant,  splendidly  optimistic.  One  by  one, 
greedy  of  conquest,  rival  railroads  crept  converging 
in  as  previously  the  prairie  schooners  had  done,  and 
almost  before  it  was  aware  of  the  change  the  town 
had  become  a  city. 

More  potent  then  than  ever  previous  the  dominant 
extravagances  of  the  assembled  units  came  to  the  fore. 
On  the  loom  of  optimism,  of  the  thread  of  imagina 
tion,  boundless  confidence  reproduced  itself.  In  fancy, 
just  beyond  the  curtain  of  a  few  paltry  years,  a  me 
tropolis,  rival  of  the  two  then  existing  in  the  land, 
took  shape.  The  spread  of  the  hallucination  was 
universal;  the  plague  was  no  more  contagious.  Staid 
business  men  became  speculators,  gamblers.  For 
tunes  like  cherries  dangled  just  beyond  reach,  yet  tan- 
talisingly  clear  in  sight.  Of  a  sudden  real  estate 
values  multiplied  like  the  grains  of  the  field,  a  dozen, 
a  hundred  fold;  inflated  like  mushrooms  almost  un 
believably  in  a  night.  Nothing  was  impossible;  no 
civic  improvement  too  big  to  undertake.  Through 
the  hills  on  which  the  little  city  was  built  streets  came 
into  being.  Cuts  like  palisades  towered  above  the 
pedestrians'  heads,  cuts  which  after  a  decade  of  years 


4  Foreword 

still  smile  down  tolerantly  upon  the  passer  by.  A 
flouring  mill,  largest  at  the  date  in  the  world,  arose 
beside  the  river's  falls.  A  giant  packing  plant 
sprawled  upon  the  prairie  hard  by.  Woollen  mills, 
intended  to  weave  the  fleeces  of  sheep  yet  unborn, 
came  into  being.  A  linen  mill  settled  itself  comfort 
ably  near  beside.  Bevies  of  factories,  precocious, 
manifold,  awoke  to  life,  tugged  at  the  city  mother's 
outskirts.  Surrounding  farmers  platted  into  town 
lots  their  dooryards,  their  gardens,  their  grain  fields. 
If  with  the  coming  of  a  new  day,  any  holder  of  a 
segment  of  mother  earth  experienced  the  sensation 
of  a  new  desire,  its  gratification  in  the  very,  very 
near  future  was  puerilely  simple.  Selling  values  had 
but  to  inflate  in  proportion  to  the  need.  It  was 
Utopia  to  date. 

Inevitable  as  the  fundamental  guiding  law  of  sup 
ply  and  demand,  came  the  reaction.  Marvellous  as 
was  the  confidence,  the  impossible  would  not  ma 
terialise  at  command.  Paper  values  shrivelled  like 
maize  leaves  under  the  breath  of  frost.  The  vacant 
windows  of  big  office  buildings  stared  hungrily  down 
at  the  river  and  the  winding  valley.  The  doors  of 
the  great  mill  closed  never  yet  to  reopen;  weeds 
sprang  up  in  the  stock-yards  of  the  packing  plant. 
One  by  one  the  factories  felt  the  death  grip  of  in 
solvency  tightening  on  their  throats.  The  voice  of 
the  sheriff  alone  was  loud  in  the  land. 

A  decade  of  years  passed  by,  a  period  of  recon 
struction,  the  sobering  lethargy  following  a  debauch. 


Foreword  5 

When  the  city  awoke  it  was  with  the  clear  brain  of 
one  who  has  returned  to  his  own.  It  had  learned 
its  lesson  as  experience  only  can  teach.  Fundamen 
tally,  however,  it  was  unchanged.  The  original  char 
acteristics,  impatience  of  restraint,  sublime  independ 
ence,  ceaseless  activity,  splendid  optimism,  neutral 
tolerance,  were  still  the  blood  of  its  arteries;  only 
never  again  would  the  phantom  of  the  impossible 
lead  on  to  orgy.  Once  more  from  being  temporarily 
a  puppet  in  an  opera  bouffe  it  had  become  a  living, 
throbbing  personality. 

As  it  was  then  so  it  is  to-day;  a  city  with  a  com 
posite  individuality  all  its  own,  type  of  the  great 
State  of  which  it  is  the  metropolis,  of  the  splendid 
country  from  which  it  draws  tribute.  Independent 
it  is  in  the  consciousness  of  boundless  wealth  which 
Nature  herself  has  given  and  which  none  can  take 
away.  Ceaselessly  active  for  the  reason  that  the 
work  it  views  undone  cannot  be  accomplished  in 
generations.  Tolerant  perforce  through  the  assimi 
lation  of  myriad  human  types,  myriad  personalities 
and  idiosyncrasies.  Liberally  broad  inasmuch  as  no 
person  whose  horizon  is  the  meeting  of  level  earth 
and  sky  can  be  otherwise.  United  she  neither  is  nor 
soon  will  be.  They  who  people  a  new  country, 
though  they  live  side  by  side,  are  slow  to  fuse.  Their 
ambitions  are  too  divergent,  they  have  too  much 
to  do.  Though  she  herself  has  remained  silent, 
her  life  story  has  spread  on  the  winds  to  the  four 
corners  of  the  land.  Probably  not  in  the  United 


6  Foreword 

States  is  another  city  of  equal  size  so  well  known. 
Likewise  without  volition  on  her  part,  she 
is  made  the  scene  of  an  endless  social  drama, 
the  battle-ground  upon  which  a  giant  domestic  prob 
lem  is  daily  fought.  Again  it  is  the  inevitable 
manifest.  Whether  for  good  or  evil  the  denoue 
ment,  it  is  her  virtues  already  catalogued,  and  not 
her  faults,  which  invite  the  reality.  Meanwhile,  tol 
erant,  indifferent,  the  city,  the  State  of  whose  char 
acter  she  is  the  personification,  sits  not  in  judgment. 
Unmoved  as  the  brown-red  jasper  beds  upon  which 
she  is  built,  she  observes  and  is  silent.  Verily  she 
is  a  personality  among  personalities,  a  city  unlike  any 
other  on  earth — Sioux  Falls,  South  Dakota. 


Chapter   I 

OBLIGATION 

THE  man  on  the  pantasote  lounge  blinked  about 
him  slowly,  confusedly,  and  in  half-conscious  perplex 
ity  ran  a  pair  of  freckled  hands  through  a  shock  of 
distinctly  reddish  hair.  Gradually  from  wandering 
the  close-set  blue  eyes  fastened  upon  the  long  figure 
opposite,  held  there;  a  group  of  ridges  and  furrows 
forming  on  the  brow  between. 

"  Where  in  thunder  am  I  ? "  he  queried  slowly, 
"  and  who,  if  you  please,  are  you?  " 

The  one  addressed  shifted,  revealing  a  long  face, 
and  therefrom  pendant  a  stubby  pipe  of  the  variety 
to  which  Hibernians  show  preference.  His  eyes,  like 
wise  blue,  tightened  whimsically. 

"  You  are  in  my  office.    I  am  Bruce  Watson. " 

Again  the  fingers  combed  the  reddish  hair;  but  no 
light  came. 

"  In  your  office?    What  manner  of  office,  pray?  " 

"I  am  a  doctor.  A  physician  and  surgeon,  to  be 
exact." 

A  shade,  a  mere  suggestion  of  understanding,  came 
into  the  questioner's  face. 

"  And  how,  to  tax  your  indulgence  once  more,  did 
I  come  here?"     The  alae  of  the  speaker's  nostrils 

7 


S  The  Dissolving  Circle 

tightened.     "  You  will  understand,  I  trust,  my  hav 
ing  a  slight  curiosity." 

Very  deliberately  Watson  pounded  die  contents 
of  the  pipe  into  a  convenient  ash  tray,  and  from  the 
tobacco  jar  near  at  hand  filled  the  howl  afresh. 

"You'd  really  like  me  to  state  the  reason  in  so 
many  words,  would  you  ?  "  Deliberate  as  before,  his 
eyes  found  the  other's  face,  fastened  there.  "Or 
was  that  question  merely  perfunctory?  " 

The  countenance  of  the  man  on  the  lounge  grew 
more  rosy. 

"  I  asked  because  I  wished  to  know.1' 

Again  across  the  littered,  unpolished  table  the  two 
pairs  of  blue  eyes  met. 

"  Very  well."  Watson  scratched  a  match  and  drew 
on  the  brier  until  a  great  cloud  of  smoke  wreathed 
above  his  head.  "  Very  well,  I'll  tell  you  then.  I 
picked  you  up  on  the  street  so  abominably  drunk  that 
you  couldn't  walk." 

The  jaw  line  of  the  red-haired  man  set  like  a  trap; 
but  he  said  nothing.  Minutes  passed ;  then  fumbling 
in  his  pocket  he  produced  a  watch  and  studied  the 
f a ce  attentively. 

"What  time  was  it,"  he  glanced  up  of  a  sud 
den  peculiarly,  "when  I— came  into  your  posses 
sion?" 

"  About  a  quarter  past  one,  I  believe.99 

"  It's  now  a  bit  after  four.  Am  I  not  rather — 
conscious  for  one  who  has  been  so  recently  in  the 
Mate  you  mention?9' 


Obligation  9 

The  host's  bushy  head  dropped  to  the  chair  back, 
the  latter  retreating  likewise  in  sympathy. 

44  1  used  a  stomach  pump  «t*i  —  some  other  thing* 

—  »» 

c  n   .  OB  . 

Again  for  die  space  of  minutes  there  was  silence. 
At  last  the  visitor  sat  up. 

"  I'm  not  fool  enough  to  fail  to  realise,"  he  volun 
teered,  "  that  I've  made  a  most  absolute  ass  of  my 
self  and  that  I'm  not  ameliorating  the  situation  any 
now;  hot  as  long  as  we're  into  it  we  may  as  weft 
have  the  whole  story.  My  name's  Tracy,  Norman 
Tracy,  and  Pm  stopping  at  the  Cataract."  A  halt 
and  again  the  peculiar  look.  "  Perhaps,  though,  this 


is  no  news." 


"  I  knew  who  you  were  —  your  name,  I  mean." 

"To  the  point  then."  Despite  an  effort  to  Ac 
contrary  the  flash  had  reappeared.  "  By  what  happy 
chance  am  I  indebted  to  you  for  playing  the  Good 
Samaritan  ?  " 

One  after  the  other  Watson's  feet  elevated  to 
the  surface  of  the  table,  the  spring  of  die  desk 
chair  creaking  interrupted  protest  at  the  shifting 
weight, 

"  It  was  mere  accident.  I  happened  to  he  coming 
along  Ninth  Street  when  a  policeman,  you  probably 
know  the  big  fellow  here  on  this  beat,  was  just  fish 
ing  you  out  of  the  gutter.  I  took  it  for  granted 
you'd  rather  not  spend  the  nigjit  at  die  city's  expense, 
and  induced  him  to  permit  you  to  come  with  me. 
That's  all,  I  believe 


io  The  Dissolving  Circle 

Again  the  wrinkles  deepened  between  Tracy's  eye 
brows. 

"  All  except  the  most  interesting  part,  the  tale  of 
the  coercion." 

Watson  puffed  on  indifferently. 

"  I  swore  you  had  an  apoplectic  fit,  if  that  ex 
plains." 

"  And  when  he  tested  my  breath,"  in  spite  of  him 
self  the  visitor's  eyes  dropped. 

"  I  reminded  him  that  I  had  already  explained 
the  difficulty." 

Apparently  satisfied,  Tracy's  glance  shifted  about 
the  room,  took  in  the  half  dozen  cane-seated  chairs, 
vociferously  new,  the  pine  table  which  was  also  a 
desk,  the  operating  stand  of  galvanised  iron,  the  few 
obviously  second-hand  sheep-bound  text-books,  re 
turned  to  Watson  himself. 

"  I  think,"  the  inspector  arose  a  bit  unsteadily, 
"  I'll  rid  you  of  my  presence.  In  future  it  will  be  un 
necessary  for  anyone  to  explain  to  me  the  feelings  of 
a  prominent  citizen  caught  red-handed  robbing  his 
neighbour's  hen  roost."  Of  a  sudden  from  red  the 
face  went  pale,  the  close-set  eyes  tightened. 

"  Self-extenuation  compels  me  to  say,  however, 
that  this  is  offence  number  one  of  the  kind  in  my 
life.  Explanation  bids  me  add  that  of  all  the  curses 
in  a  man's  life,  woman " 

"  I  " — the  pipe  left  the  doctor's  mouth,  but  other 
wise  not  a  muscle  of  the  long  body  moved.  "  I — beg 
your  pardon." 


Obligation  1 1 

Tracy  drew  up,  all  but  with  a  jerk,  the  chin  of 
him  lifted,  the  eyes  took  the  downward  slant  of  one 
who  fancies  he  faces  an  inferior.  Out  upon  the  street 
the  door  of  a  hack  swung  to  with  a  crash  and  upon 
the  granite  pavement  the  cab  horses'  shoes  beat  a 
diminishing  tattoo.  The  white  slowly  left  the  visi 
tor's  face. 

"  I  am  at  present  your  debtor  and  for  that  reason 
overlook  the — interruption."  Slowly  he  approached 
the  table.  "  Be  assured  I'm  thoroughly  grateful  for 
what  you've  done  for  me  to-night."  Hesitatingly 
a  card  dropped  amid  the  litter. 

"If  in  future  I  can  reciprocate — or — should  there 
be  a  bill—" 

Puff,  puff  went  the  pipe. 

Tracy  hesitated,  made  as  if  to  extend  his  handr 
thought  better  of  the  idea,  and  thrust  it  in  his  pocket, 
moved  toward  the  door. 

"This  is  the  way  to  the  elevator,  I  presume?'* 
he  digressed. 

Once  more  the  spring  of  the  desk  chair  spoke  pro 
test. 

"  Yes,  but  I  fear  you'll  have  to  use  the  stairs.  In 
this  building  the  car  stops  at  ten  o'clock." 

The  visitor  swung  half  about. 

"What  floor  is  this,  please?" 

"  The  sixth." 

Surprise  that  grew  into  astonishment  unfeigned 
flooded  the  alien. 

"  And  you — carried  me  up  here?  " 


12  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  I  was  raised  among  men,"  indifferently. 

Usually  so  facile,  the  tongue  of  the  other  had  noth 
ing  to  say,  and  he  turned  again  to  the  door. 

"  Good-night." 

Watching  the  departure  twin  wrinkles  tightened 
Watson's  blue  eyes  anew. 

"  Mr.  Tracy " 

"  Yes." 

"Are  you  quite  sure  you  wish  to  go — now?" 

The  other  looked  a  question. 

"Certainly.     Why  not?" 

Watson  picked  up  a  journal  from  the  table  and 
spread  it  comfortably  upon  his  lap. 

"  I  thought  perhaps  you'd  rather  not,  was  all." 

"But  why?"  Again  the  eyelashes  were  inclined 
downward. 

The  magazine  was  pressed  open  with  a  deliberate 
hand. 

"  There's  a  mirror  In  the  corner  to  your  right." 
The  wrinkles  expanded  into  a  smile,  a  broad,  frank 
smile.  "  Our  streets  are  not  kept  as  clean  as  they 
might  be." 

Involuntarily  Tracy  glanced  in  the  direction  indi 
cated. 

"  Damn !  "  The  voice  was  expressive,  all-includ 
ing.  The  owner  returned  to  the  seat  on  the  lounge. 
Very  near  to  our  self-respect  is  our  apparel. 

"  I  guess,"  the  voice  was  propitiatory,  "  I'll  have 
to  tax  your  good  nature  a  bit  farther.  Won't  you 
lend  me  a  clean  suit;  we're  about  of  a  size." 


Obligation  13 

"  Delighted,  but  for  one  reason.  I  cannot — con 
veniently." 

With  one  motion  Tracy's  hand  went  to  his  pocket, 
returned  with  a  roll  of  greenbacks,  banged  in  em 
phasis  on  the  board  beside  the  uplifted  feet. 

u  I'm  no  pauper,  nor  asking  favours  for  which 
I'm  not  able  to  pay.  I'll  buy  a  suit  of  you,  at  any 
price  you  see  fit  to  name." 

For  the  space  one  could  count  ten  slowly  there 
was  not  a  sound  in  the  room.  The  wrinkles  left 
the  corner  of  the  doctor's  eyes,  the  nails  of  four 
big-jointed  fingers  on  the  chair  arm  went  white,  the 
steady  puff  of  smoke  ceased.  Then  again  a  cloud  of 
blue  curled  toward  the  ceiling. 

"  Your  deductions  are  a  bit  hasty,"  commented  an 
even  voice.  "  Because  there's  a  skeleton  in  the  lower 
drawers  of  this  table  is  not  proof  positive  that  I'm 
a  cannibal.  Unfortunately  I  have  but  one  suit  of 
clothes,  and  that  at  present  is  in  active  use." 

Tracy's  hand,  grasping  the  crumpled  bills,  re 
turned  to  his  pocket  as  though  detected  filching  from 
a  contribution  basket. 

"  Watson,"  he  halted,  "  I — beg  your  pardon.  I'm 
not  myself  to-night.  Forget  the  insult,  please." 

His  companion  nodded  compliance. 

"  I  had  no  intent  of  doing  otherwise.  Life  is  too 
short  to  waste  in  quarrels  over  nothing."  He  stood 
up  and  stretched  like  a  cat  from  a  nap. 

"  You'd  better  go  to  bed.  I'll  get  your  clothes 
myself  in  the  morning." 


14  The  Dissolving  Circle 

Tracy  glanced  around  him  unwillingly,  helplessly. 

"  You  sleep  here  too,  do  you?  "  he  queried  scepti 
cally. 

Once  more  the  wrinkles  had  resumed  their  place. 

"  Yes."  One  of  the  new  cane-seated  chairs  went  to 
lengthen  the  pantasote  lounge.  "I  beg  pardon  for 
disturbing  you."  From  behind  a  curtain  in  one 
corner  of  the  room  came  a  roll  of  blankets  and  a 
pillow.  A  pair  of  clean  sheets  followed  and  in  the 
space  of  seconds  a  very  inviting  bed  lay  awaiting  an 
occupant.  The  host  returned  to  his  seat  and  tilted 
the  reflector  over  the  single  incandescent  globe  so 
that  half  the  room  was  in  shadow. 

"  I'll  fix  you  out  in  time  for  breakfast." 

Tracy  had  risen  and  observed  the  arrangement 
without  a  word.  Now  at  its  completion  he  watched 
the  other  man  as  he  impassively  took  up  the  neglected 
journal  and  for  the  second  time  filled  the  anything 
but  fragrant  pipe.  There  was  an  intensity  in  the 
inspection  which  for  long  he  had  not  directed  to  any 
object  animate  or  inanimate;  a  something  deeper  than 
interest,  for  at  its  close  beneath  the  thin  skin  the 
muscles  of  the  tightened  jaw  showed  distinct.  Slowly 
his  freckled  fingers  went  through  his  hair.  Equally 
slowly  his  eyes  shifted  to  the  door,  to  the  inviting 
white  of  the  sheets  revealed  beneath  the  turned-down 
blankets,  to  his  own  disreputable-looking  person;  lin 
gered  there  meditatively. 

"And  you?"  he  suggested  at  last  coldly. 

"  Don't  worry  about  me.     It's  nearly  morning. 


Obligation  15 

Besides,  I  wouldn't  have  gone  to  bed  to-night  any 
way." 

Once  again  there  was  a  pause,  then  against  the 
background  of  silence  came  the  suppressed  sound  of 
a  man  disrobing;  the  impact  of  two  shoes  one  after 
the  other  on  an  uncarpeted  floor,  a  muffled  curse  as 
the  bare  foot  came  in  contact  with  the  cold  linoleum, 
an  unconscious  sigh  of  satisfaction  at  the  welcome 
touch  of  clean  linen;  last  of  all  the  interrupted, 
stertorous  breathing  of  an  alcoholic. 


Chapter  II 

THE   LETHE    CLUB 

WHEREVER  the  place  on  the  surface  of  earth  men 
congregate,  whatever  their  incentive  of  gathering, 
like  inevitably  find  like.  In  evidence,  of  the  evening 
following,  in  a  second-floor  back  room  of  a  building 
fronting  on  Phillips  Avenue  five  men  were  lounging, 
almost  huddling,  about  the  blaze  from  an  open  gas 
grate.  Supposedly  the  place  was  furnace-heated,  but 
though  the  season  was  late  October,  in  spirit  of  land- 
lordly  economy  the  radiators  were  cold.  The  apart 
ment  itself  was  thoroughly  isolated.  Two  windows, 
opening  to  the  rear,  looked  out  fair  upon  the  surface 
of  the  Big  Sioux  River.  The  expanse  of  water, 
leaden  grey  from  depth  and  held  motionless  by  a  big 
dam  below,  added  to  the  chill  all  surrounding, 
blended  with  the  sodden  sky,  with  the  leafless  strag 
gling  maple  skeletons  which  partially  screened  the 
brown  country  beyond.  Connecting  the  room  with 
the  staircase,  which  in  turn  descended  to  the  street, 
was  a  long  corridor,  without  skylight  and  in  conse 
quence  always  partially  dark,  but  nevertheless  barred 
to  intruders  by  ground-glass.  Yale-locked  inner  and 
outer  doors.  Within  the  room  itself  was  a  single 
rug  of  ample  proportions  and  with  some  discoloura- 
tions,  an  assortment  of  wicker  chairs,  a  long  library 

16 


The  Lethe  Club  17 

desk  littered  with  the  daily  papers,  the  recent  maga 
zines,  a  half  dozen  late  novels,  a  silk  hat  and  a  walk 
ing  stick.  In  a  niche  near  the  mantel  a  buffet  ex 
hibited  a  goodly  stock  of  liquors  and  cigars. 

Of  the  five  men  forming  the  straggling  crescent, 
one,  reddish  of  hair,  freckled  of  hands,  we  already 
know.  The  others,  similar  editions  in  blonde  and 
darker  skins,  ostensibly  prospective  citizens  of  South 
Dakota,  like  Tracy  himself,  in  confidence  acknowl 
edged  various  Eastern  residences,  and  would  almost 
as  readily  have  considered  suicide  itself  as  of  fulfilling 
their  oath  of  State  allegiance.  Together,  men  and 
room,  the  tradition  which  caused  their  approxima 
tion,  the  whole  had  a  name.  Migratory  as  water 
fowl,  here  but  for  a  few  brief  months,  the  humans 
themselves  had  little  to  do  therewith.  Coming,  they 
accepted  it  without  question;  leaving,  it  remained 
behind  them,  legacy  to  the  newer  group  of  pilgrims. 
Meanwhile  in  the  dragging  months  of  idleness  it  ful 
filled  its  mission.  Though  to  a  majority  of  the  citi 
zens  of  the  town  its  existence  was  unknown,  it  had 
nevertheless  been  an  institution  for  years,  bid  fair 
to  continue  life  indefinitely,  to  endure  until  the  by 
product  of  an  age  of  social  unrest  should  cease  jour 
neying  to  this  particular  shrine.  It  was  the  Lethe 
Club. 

However  it  might  be  ordinarily,  on  this  particular 
evening  the  name  of  the  organisation  was  a  flagrant 
misnomer.  Nowhere  on  the  continent  were  five  men 
more  restlessly  wide-awake,  more  insistently  desirous 


i8  The  Dissolving  Circle 

of  action,  of  excitement.  They  lounged  one  and  all; 
but  in  frequently  shifted  positions.  At  last  Irving 
Barry,  round-faced,  massive  of  girth,  farthest  from 
the  blaze,  drew  closer  irritably. 

"  Confound  that  janitor,"  he  grumbled,  "  he  must 
think  we're  lumber  jacks — or  Esquimaux." 

The  others,  a  moment  before  equally  morose,  now 
in  the  perversity  of  human  nature,  smiled  broadly. 

"  Your  blood's  too  thin  is  the  trouble,"  com 
mented  March,  a  dapper  little  man  with  a  high  fore 
head,  a  well-kept  moustache,  and  a  boutonniere. 
"  You  need  exercise,  an  interest." 

"An  interest!"  sniffed  the  other.  "In  charity's 
name  show  me  one !  The  Lord  knows  I've  searched 
therefor  diligently."  He  straightened  and  clasped 
-his  plump  hands  between  his  wide-spread  legs. 

"  I've  visited  the  penitentiary  and  the  brewery. 
I've  seen  the  falls  and  gotten  a  pass  through  the 
Queen  Bee  mill.  I've  heard  the  local  sage  explain 
how  to  live  a  hundred  years,  and  stood  the  smile  of 

the  prima  donna  until  I  fell  into  a  fit.  I've " 

The  voice  paused  and  the  round  face  relaxed  into  a 
grin.  "  On  the  square,  though,  gentlemen,  joking 
aside,  the  accusation  is  true.  I'm  simply  spoiling  to 
have  something  doing." 

"  I  think  the  need  is  mutual,"  commented  Marsh 
drily.  "  The  thing  we're  waiting  for  is  a  sug 
gestion." 

Tracy  arose  and  walked  toward  the  buffet. 

"  I  was  just  about  to  make  one."     He  poured  a 


The  Lethe  Club  19 

generous  drink  of  whisky  dramatically  and  sent  it 
down  raw.  "  What's  the  matter  of  initiating  a  new 
member?  " 

The  boy-man  nearest  the  mantel,  Phelps  by  name, 
sloping-shouldered,  with  faded  blue  eyes  and  a  re 
ceding  chin,  hitched  sarcastically  in  his  chair. 

"  Nothing  so  far  as  I  can  see,"  an  ironic  pause; 
"  that  is,  nothing  save  a  total  lack  of  material." 

Tracy  came  back  to  his  seat. 

"  I  think,"  he  refuted,  "  the  lack  you  mention  is 
more  imaginary  than  real." 

For  a  moment  and  as  one  man  the  others  observed 
the  speaker. 

"  Another  of  love's  young  dreams  faded,  eh?" 
satirised  Phelps  finally.  Rising,  he  stalked  over  to 
the  windows  and  with  a  jerk  drew  the  shades  over 
the  outside  greyness. 

"  Confound  that  sulky  river,"  he  digressed  in  ex 
tenuation  as  he  lit  the  gas.  "  It's  giving  me  the 
blues.  By  the  way,"  he  resumed,  "  where's  the  can 
didate  from?  " 

"  Rather  inquire  as  more  important,"  laughed 
Marsh,  "  how  long  before  his  sentence  expires." 

Tracy  glanced  about  the  group  unsmiling. 

"  The  man  I  have  in  mind  lives  here  in  Sioux 
Falls." 

The  one  member  who  thus  far  had  not  spoken,  a 
dark,  graceful  man  of  uncertain  age,  with  a  muddy 
complexion  and  an  abnormally  nervous  manner,  drew 
out  a  book  of  rice  paper. 


2O  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  Has  he,'5  a  cigarette  took  form,  swiftly,  me 
chanically,  "  the  prime  requisite  for  joining  this  il 
lustrious  society?  "  The  sarcasm  which  one  and  all 
used  as  a  mask  to  cover  their  present  purpose  sprang 
instinctively  to  his  lips.  "  I've  noticed  that  most  of 
these  townspeople  bear  their  conjugal  burdens  in  un- 
protesting  silence." 

Tracy's  face  was  still  non-committal. 

"  The  man's  a  bachelor." 

Phelps'  hands  went  out  in  a  conscious  gesture  of 
mock  dismay. 

"  Heresy,  heresy,"  he  protested  histrionically, 
"  gentlemen " 

Interrupting,  Barry  shifted  his  chair  away  from 
the  fire. 

"  Are  you  in  earnest,  Norman?"  he  queried  di 
rectly. 

The  other's  close-set  eyes  tightened,  his  arms 
folded  unconsciously. 

"  I  certainly  am." 

"Who's  the  man,  then?    Let's  hear  about  him." 

Tracy  leaned  back  absently,  too  absently.  A  half 
minute  passed. 

"  As  I  said,"  at  last  monotonously,  "  he's  a  bach 
elor — about  thirty  I  should  say — a  doctor  who  of 
fices  in  the  Minnehaha  building  across  the  way." 
Languidly,  again  too  languidly,  the  eyes  made  the 
circle  of  the  four  listeners.  "  Where  he  comes  from 
I  can't  find  anyone  who  knows.  Who  he  is  likewise 
apparently  no  one  has  taken  the  trouble  to  find  out. 


The  Lethe  Club  21 

He  has  practically  no  practice  or  associates.  Evi 
dently  he  has  had  some  education,  for  his  English  is 
excellent.  He  dresses  like  a  rancher  or  a  cattleman, 
but  it  seems  after  all  as  though  the  things  on  his 
back  fitted  him."  The  folded  arms  loosened,  the 
glance,  keen  now,  repeated  the  circuit  of  faces.  "  He 
would  be,  I  fancy,  a  most  surprising  man  in  a  rough 
and  tumble  scrimmage." 

There  was  no  languor  in  the  room  now,  only 
silence,  an  anticipatory  silence.  In  it  Morley  Butler 
blew  a  last  cloud  of  smoke  through  his  nostrils,  tossed 
the  cigarette  stump  into  the  grate,  and  took  a  breath 
of  pure  air  audibly.  Stephen  Phelps  glanced  a  question 
at  the  action,  then  receiving  no  response  fell  to  in 
specting  the  toe  of  his  boot  critically.  Irving  Barry 
alone  remained  as  before,  observing  his  confrere 
steadily,  analytically. 

"  The  description  is  vivid  enough,"  he  commented, 
"  but  why,  please,  the  selection?  It  strikes  me  from 
the  picture  that  Mr.  Bruce  Watson  and  ourselves 
would  be  lacking  a  bit  for  things  in  common." 

"  And  precedent,"  added  Marsh  in  routine; 
"  there's  never  been " 

"  Damn  precedent!  "  snapped  Tracy. 

Marsh  coloured,  and  a  hot  retort  sprang  to  his 
lips,  but  Barry,  the  peacemaker,  stepped  into  the 
breach. 

"  If  you  fire-eaters  will  keep  cool  a  minute,"  he 
smiled,  "  maybe  we'll  be  able  to  learn  something." 
He  turned  to  Tracy  directly. 


22  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  On  the  square,  Norman,  why  is  it  you  wish  to 
take  in  this  man  Watson?  You  haven't  told  us  the 
story  yet." 

The  other  threw  out  a  hand  impatiently. 

"  I've  repeated  everything  I  know.  We've  got  to 
recruit  from  somewhere  now  and  then,  haven't  we? 
You  yourself,  you  realise,  in  a  couple  of  months 

now "  The  speaker  paused  suggestively,  and  the 

grin  on  his  face  was  reflected  to  the  others.  "  It's 
deucedly  hard  to  replace  you,  old  man,  but  I'm  doing 
the  best  I  can." 

A  moment  Barry  sat  smiling  in  good-natured  tol 
erance  of  the  badinage,  then  rising,  he  moved  over 
to  the  rack  and  selected  his  top  coat  and  hat  delib 
erately. 

"  I  think  at  this  time,"  he  digressed  easily,  "  I'll 
see  what  Providence  has  provided  for  dinner.  Any 
one  else  going  along?  " 

Swift  as  the  sun  slips  behind  a  wind  cloud  the 
smile  left  Tracy's  face.  Twin  wrinkles  dug  deep  fur 
rows  between  his  eyes. 

"  You'll  vote  before  you  go,  won't  you?  "  he  de 
manded.  "  We  can't  elect  without." 

Barry  got  into  the  coat  slowly. 

"  I'll  be  very  glad  to  when  I  hear  the  rest  of  the 
story."  He  drew  on  one  glove  judicially.  "  As 
I  said  before,  I'm  spoiling  for  something  to  happen, 
and  as  far  as  I'm  personally  concerned  I'd  just  as 
soon  help  initiate  the  Sultan  of  Sulu  if  I  knew  the 
reason."  He  pulled  on  the  other  glove  and  stood 


The  Lethe  Club  23 

waiting.  "  But  in  this  case  that's  just  the  trouble. 
I  don't  know  the  why." 

For  the  space  of  seconds  following  there  was  si 
lence.  In  it  Butler  lit  a  fresh  cigarette  impassively. 
Marsh  looked  from  one  to  the  other  of  the  speakers 
with  evident  anxiety.  Tracy  folded  his  arms  as  be 
fore,  then  unfolded  them  again  and  rising  stood  with 
one  foot  on  the  cane  seat,  his  elbow  on  his  knee. 

"  On  the  square,  gentlemen,"  he  admitted  reluc 
tantly,  "  since  you  insist,  I'll  tell  you  why  I  wish  to 
initiate  this  man  Watson."  The  chin  dropped  to  the 
open  palm,  the  other  hand  disappeared  in  a  trou 
sers  pocket.  The  channels  on  the  forehead  reap 
peared. 

"  Last  night,  if  you  remember,  I  wasn't  with  you. 
I  had  something  on  my  mind  and  proceeded  to  for 
get  it  in  the  approved  way."  Unconsciously  the  all 
but  closed  lids  narrowed.  "  As  chance  would  have 
it  Watson  stumbled  on  to  me  and  prevented  a  scene. 
That's  the  long  and  the  short  of  our  acquaintance. 
The  things  I  told  you  I  found  out  to-day  from  the 
other  roomers  in  the  block  with  him." 

"  I  see,"  commented  Phelps  as  the  narrative 
paused.  "  A  case  to  date  of  a  grateful  recipient 
wishing  to  duly  reward  the  hero." 

The  foot  on  the  chair  came  to  the  floor  with  a 
bang. 

"  Grateful  nothing !  Whatever  else  I  am  I  trust 
I'm  no  hypocrite.  Last  night  it's  a  fact  I  did  feel 
decidedly  appreciative.  I'd  have  paid  him  good  and 


24  The  Dissolving  Circle 

proper,  but  he  wouldn't  accept  anything,  and  he  was 
so  confounded  supercilious  about  what  he  did — I 

might  have  been  a  dog  or  a  Dago  for  all  he " 

The  words  had  been  coming  faster  and  faster.  Now 
of  a  sudden  they  ceased  and  the  narrowed  eyes  flashed 
openly. 

"  You  have  absolutely  the  last  word  this  time.  The 
man  is  in  crying  need  of  experience,  and  we  have  an 
equal  lack  of  diversion.  The  occasion  is  psycho 
logical." 

"  But  after  he's  been  initiated,"  protested  Phelps 
quickly,  "what  then?  We're  not  going  to  be  here 
long  enough  to  take  a  savage  to  train." 

Tracy's  lip   curled  legibly. 

"  Unless  I'm  a  poor  judge  of  human  nature  there's 
no  problem  of  future.  You  leave  the  initiation  to 
me.  It's  my  turn  to  evolve  the  form  anyway,  and  I 
venture  the  prediction  that  thereafter  the  Lethe  Club 
will  offer  few  attractions  to  the  candidate."  He 
turned  to  the  three  men  at  his  left  directly. 

"  But  enough  of  this.  Let's  put  the  matter  to  a 
vote  before  dinner.  What  do  you  say,  Butler?" 

The  man  addressed  glanced  up  indifferently. 

"  The  whole  thing  to  me  smacks  rather  decidedly 
of  the  fiction  number  of  a  family  magazine,  but  as  far 
as  I'm  concerned,  yes." 

"And  you,  Marsh?" 

"  I'd  be  willing  to  hold  a  kerosene  torch  in  a  cam 
paign  parade  to-night.  Count  me  favourable." 

«  Phelps " 


The  Lethe  Club  25 

"  I  withdraw  my  objection." 

Tracy  turned  to  the  man  of  girth. 

"  Are  you  with  us,  Barry?  " 

The  big  man  returned  the  look. 

"  Just  one  question  more  before  I  vote.  Is  Wat 
son  aware  that  he's  being  balloted  on?  " 

Tracy's  eyes  shifted. 

"  No." 

"  Nor  probably  knows  much  of  anything  about 
us?" 

"  Probably  not." 

"  Seems  to  me,  then,  it  would  be  well  to  find  out 
if  he  cares  to  join  before  we  elect  him."  Uncon 
sciously  the  broad  shoulders  lifted,  straightened. 
"  I've  learned  something  about  these  solitary  West 
erners  in  the  last  four  months,  and  if  your  descrip 
tion  of  this  particular  one  is  correct,  I  have  a  pre 
monition  he'll  tell  us  and  our  dinky  little  club  to  go 
hang;  or  words  to  that  effect." 

"  But  supposing  I  take  the  responsibility  of  vouch 
ing  for  his  acceptance?  "  pressed  Tracy. 

"  In  that  case,"  quickly,  "  I'm  with  you  to  the 
finish." 

The  two  men  observed  each  other  steadily  at  short 
range. 

"  You'll  not  forget  the  promise  or  that  it's  my 
lead?"  A  challenge  was  in  the  curl  of  the  thin 
upper  lip. 

"  No." 

In  silence  Tracy  moved  over  to  the  buffet  and 


26  The  Dissolving  Circle 

poured  another  too  generous  drink  from  the  red  de 
canter. 

"  Very  well,  gentlemen,"  he  commented,  "  be  here 
all  of  you  by  nine  o'clock  at  least."  He  lifted  the 
glass  and  glanced  about  him  sarcastically. 

"  So  long  as  I  alone  stand  sponsor  for  the  new 
comer,  I'll  drink  solitary."  The  red  liquor  passed 
between  his  eye  and  the  light. 

"  Here's  to  the  candidate !  " 

Without  comment  of  the  action  Barry  truned  in 
terrogatively  to  Butler  and,  the  latter  responding, 
they  left  the  place  together.  For  a  moment  after 
they  were  gone  Phelps  held  his  peace,  then  curiosity 
got  the  better  of  him. 

"  Between  you  and  me,  Tracy,"  he  insinuated, 
"  what're  you  going  to  do  to  Watson?  You've  got 
something  up  your  sleeve,  I  know." 

Tracy  came  back  to  the  grate  and  spread  his  hands 
before  the  blaze.  His  customary  mood,  restless, 
bored,  impatient,  had  returned  and  he  did  not  even 
look  at  the  questioner. 

"  Perhaps  I  have  and  perhaps  I  haven't."  He 
shivered  a  little  in  spite  of  the  heat.  "  If  you  pos 
sess  your  soul  in  patience  you'll  find  out  this  even- 
ing." 

Phelps'  weak  face  tightened  doggedly. 

"  But  I  want  to  know  now.  As  a  member  of  the 
club  I  have  a  right " 

Interrupting,  Tracy  turned  half  about. 

"  Whatever  else  in  the  world  you  do,  Phelps,"  he 


The  Lethe  Club  27 

flashed,  "  don't  nag.  It's  the  unpardonable  sin."  He 
hesitated  a  moment  and  forced  a  smile.  "  I'm  not  in 
the  mood  for  explanation  just  now;  I've  too  many 
other  things  to  think  about.  That's  where  Watson's 
initiation  comes  in.  It's  a  case  of  taking  on  tight 
boots."  He  turned  and  lifted  his  hat  from  the  table. 
"  Come  on.  Let's  go  to  dinner  and  forget  our 
troubles." 

Phelps  hesitated  a  moment  stubbornly,  then  as 
Marsh  arose  he,  too,  followed,  and  the  trio  moved 
across  the  street  in  silence. 

From  their  first  advent  in  town  the  three  men  had 
been  constant  boarders  at  the  "  Cataract."  A  half 
hour  later,  as  in  company  they  were  dining  at  their 
own  particular  table,  an  A.  D.  T.  boy  entered  and 
was  directed  to  them  by  the  head  waiter. 

"  Mr.  Norman  Tracy,"  announced  the  youth  in  a 
voice  thick  with  gum,  producing  simultaneously  a 
telegram  and  a  battered  receipt  book. 

Tracy  signed  and  opened  the  message  leisurely. 
He  read  it  twice  and  equally  leisurely  returned  the 
yellow  envelope  to  his  pocket.  Despite  his  will,  how 
ever,  his  manner  underwent  a  distinct  change.  The 
others  could  not  but  note  it. 

"  No  bad  news,  I  hope,"  suggested  Marsh  po 
litely. 

"  No."  Tracy  ate  a  moment  in  silence,  then 
glanced  at  his  questioner  peculiarity.  It  occurred  to 
Marsh  that  the  man  must  be  drinking  even  more  than 
the  others  knew.  "  I  have  an  interest  in  a  certain 


28  The  Dissolving  Circle 

venture  back  East.  Before  I  left  it  looked  rather 
dubious,  but  just  now  it's  booming." 

"  Glad  to  hear  it,"  congratulated  Marsh  conven 
tionally  and  the  conversation  changed. 

"  By  the  way,"  remarked  Tracy  unexpectedly  as  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  later  he  pushed  back  his  chair  and 
tossed  his  napkin  on  the  table,  u  I'm  going  to  leave 
this  beastly  hotel  and  take  rooms  in  a  private  house. 
I'm  dead  tired  of  things." 

The  others  glanced  at  him  in  surprise. 

"  I  thought  you  always  liked  it  here,"  protested 
Phelps.  "  Certainly  it's  the  best  place  in  town." 

Tracy  made  a  gesture  of  aggravated  disgust. 

"  It  used  to  be,  but  of  late  it's  gone  to  seed.  For 
one  I've  got  enough."  With  the  air  of  one  who 
has  said  the  last  word  upon  the  subject  he  arose  and 
led  the  way  back  to  the  lobby. 

"  Don't  forget  nine  o'clock,"  he  recalled  as  he 
stepped  into  the  waiting  elevator. 

Upstairs  alone  in  his  fourth-floor  room  he  locked 
the  door  and  switched  on  the  light.  Characteristic 
of  the  man,  every  chair  in  the  place  was  littered  with 
something,  and  seizing  the  nearest  he  dumped  its  bur 
den  irritably  to  the  floor  and  placed  it  under  the  drop 
light.  Sitting  down  he  noticed  by  chance  the  bare 
glass  of  the  single  window,  grey  as  the  dull  night 
without,  and  rising,  he  drew  the  brown  shade  with  a 
jerk.  Returning,  he  resumed  his  seat  and  tilted  the 
chair  well  back.  A  moment  he  sat  so,  absently  vi 
brating  backward  and  forward;  then,  slowly  extract- 


The  Lethe  Club  29 

ing  the  oblong  of  yellow  paper  from  his  pocket,  he 
spread  it  flat  before  his  eyes.  The  shrewd,  sensual, 
dissipated  face  of  him  was  a  study  as  he  read  anew 
the  few  typewritten  words : 

"  NORMAN  TRACY: 

"  Expect  me  the  3Oth  inst.  via  the  Rock  Island. 

"  EULA  FELKNER." 

It  was  then  the  evening  of  October  29th. 


Chapter  III 

CANCELLATION 

FOR  perhaps  three-quarters  of  an  hour,  while  he  con 
sumed  a  big  black  Havana  until  it  all  but  burned 
his  fingers,  Norman  Tracy  sat— except  for  hand  and 
lip,   motionless— gazing  with  unseeing  eyes  at  the 
blank  wall  opposite;  and  all  that  time  the  telegram  of 
one  sentence  remained  as  he  had  spread  it  out  flat 
upon  his  lap.     When  at  last  though  he  did  arouse  it 
was  with  an  energy  which  gave  no  hint  of  indecision. 
From  a  closet  adjoining  he  brought  forth  a  light  suit 
appreciably  worn  and  exchanged  it  for  the  brown 
tweeds  he  was  then  wearing.     His  heavy  walking 
shoes  likewise  he  replaced  with  low  athletic  pumps, 
his  beaver  with  a  cap,  and  descended  to  the  street. 
On  the  sidewalk  in  front  of  the  big  building  opposite, 
he  glanced  up.     There  was  a  light  in  a  certain  win 
dow  on  the  sixth  floor,  and,  ascending,  he  opened  the 
door   leading   thereto   without    form    of   knocking. 
Watson  was  standing  in  the  shadowy  oblong  back 
ground  of  the  window,  but  at  the  sound  he  turned 
half  about,  his  loose-built  frame  revolving  as  on  a 

fulcrum. 

"  Good-evening,"  initiated  Tracy. 

Watson  returned  the  salutation  and  indicated  a 
chair.    "  Won't  you  sit  down?  " 

3° 


Cancellation  31 

The  visitor  hesitated  a  moment,  moved  over  to 
the  table  and  turned  the  pages  of  a  magazine  ab 
sently. 

"  No,  thank  you.  I  came  on  a  particular  errand." 
He  adjusted  the  periodical  parallel  to  its  neighbour 
beneath  with  an  unconscious  nicety.  "  I'll  explain 
what  it  is  if  you  have  a  few  minutes'  leisure." 

With  the  same  motion  as  before,  comparable  to 
nothing  save  a  well-lubricated  bearing,  Watson  re 
sumed  his  original  position,  gazed  out  impassively 
into  the  prairie  night. 

"  I'm  listening." 

The  lips  of  Norman  Tracy  moved,  but  gave  forth 
no  sound,  the  nicely  arranged  magazines  scattered  in 
confusion.  For  ten  seconds  thereafter  he  stood  so, 
his  eyes  on  the  back  within  the  frame. 

"  To  come  to  an  understanding  then,"  he  italicised, 
"you've  heard  perhaps  of  the  Lethe  Club?" 

"  Yes." 

"  Doubtless  then  you  know  its  membership  and 
mission  also?  " 

"  A  very  little  of  both.  Circumstances  once  called 
me  in  contact  with  the  club  professionally." 

Tracy  seated  himself  on  a  corner  of  the  desk. 

"In  what  way,  if  I  may  ask?  I  had  supposed 
non-members  were  strictly  barred." 

Watson  faced  about  slowly. 

"  I  believe  they  are  ordinarily,  but  this  was  an  ex 
ceptional  case.  I  was  called,  they  politely  informed 
me,  because  I  was  the  only  doctor  in  the  directory 


32  The  Dissolving  Circle 

who  was  in  his  office  at  the  time  wanted."  Once 
more  the  back  came  into  view.  "  I  used  five  stitches, 
as  I  remember." 

For  a  half  minute  Tracy's  free  leg  ceased  in  its 
vibration  back  and  forth;  then  like  a  pendulum  it 
began  anew. 

"  I've  heard  of  the  incident  you  recall.  By  the 
way,  did  it  reach  the  papers?" 

"  No." 

Involuntarily  Tracy  smiled.  He  was  not  with 
out  a  sense  of  humour,  and  in  the  light  of  the  other's 
revelation  his  own  mission  took  on  an  unexpected 
spice. 

"  Since  you  know  then  who  we  are  and  what  we 
are,  it  simplifies  my  errand."  Just  appreciably  he 
paused.  u  I  have  the  honour  to  invite  you  to  be 
come  a  member  of  the  club.  Your  name  was  con 
sidered,  and  favourably,  to-day." 

For  a  long  minute  which  dragged  into  another  the 
room  was  as  though  vacant.  The  silence  and  the 
delay  got  on  the  visitor's  nerves. 

'You  heard  me,  did  you  not?"  he  asked  the 
back  impatiently. 

This  time  the  other  moved.  Slowly,  very  slowly, 
and  silently  as  an  Indian  he  took  the  few  steps  be 
tween  the  window  and  the  desk  chair.  Though  the 
floor  was  bare  linoleum  his  footfall  caused  scarcely 
a  sound.  His  whole  body  was  like  one  complicated 
coil  spring.  He  sat  down  and  motioned  a  chair  op 
posite. 


Cancellation  33 

"  Be  seated,  please." 

Again  Tracy  hesitated.  He  had  a  premonition 
that  the  unexpected  was  about  to  take  place  and  felt 
somehow  at  better  advantage  where  he  was. 

"  I'm  very  comfortable  here,"  he  temporised. 
"  Besides,  I've  an  engagement." 

"  I  asked  you  to  please  be  seated." 

Tracy  took  the  chair  indicated.  Why  he  did  so 
it  would  be  difficult  to  say,  but  he  did. 

Watson  leaned  back  in  his  own  place,  the  great 
bushy  head  of  him  topping  the  chair  back,  his  chin 
buried  in  the  folds  of  his  soft  brown  flannel  shirt. 
From  beneath  long  lashes  his  blue  eyes,  wide  set,  can 
did  as  a  child's,  looked  the  other  immovably. 

"  I've  noticed  as  I've  journeyed  through  life,"  he 
commented  evenly,  "  that  invariably  when  people  give 
they  expect  something,  somehow,  in  return.  You've 
just  offered  me  something.  I've  a  curiosity  to  know 
just  how  you  expect  me  to  repay  the  debt." 

Tracy  smiled  tolerantly. 

"  For  once,"  he  refuted,  "  I  think  youVe  met  the 
exception  which  proves  the  rule.  So  far  as  I  know 
absolutely  nothing  is  expected  of  you  save  your  soci 
ety.  The  club  is  of  necessity  constantly  casting  about 
for  new  members  to  fill  unavoidable  vacancies,  and 
your  name  was  mentioned  as  eligible.  That's  all 
there  is  to  the  story." 

"  Eligible  ?  "  Watson  caught  the  dominant  word. 
"  Eligible  1  Doesn't  that  impress  you  as  a  trifle  mis 
applied?" 


34  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  The  club  vote  on  the  matter  was  unanimous." 

"  I'm  a  resident." 

u  We're  all  attaining  residence  as  rapidly  as  pos 
sible." 

"  You're  uniformly  married  men." 

''  That  disability  likewise  we  are  without  exception 
attempting  to  remedy." 

"  I'm  poor  as  the  proverb." 

Tracy's  gesture  was  all-expressive,  compellingly 
adequate. 

"  You're  organised  for  the  sole  purpose  of  mur 
dering  time,  without  quarter." 

Tracy  straightened.  He  hadn't  even  hoped  for 
anything  so  easy  as  this. 

"  A  little  of  the  same  medicine  is  good  for  any 
one.  Even  a  steam  engine  will  balk  unless  it's  given 
a  rest  now  and  then." 

The  long  lashes  closed  over  Watson's  eyes  and 
opening  again  did  so  but  half  way.  His  great  chin 
lifted  from  his  chest,  stood  forth  like  a  sign  post 
whose  message  the  running  might  read. 

"  Mr.  Tracy,  we've  wasted  time  enough  juggling 
commonplaces.  The  farce  of  the  club  plural  aside, 
what  is  your  reason  for  wishing  me,  a  stranger  and 
an  alien,  to  join?  Let's  understand  each  other  for 
once." 

As  much  as  the  colour  of  his  hair  the  histrionic 
was  a  part  of  Tracy's  nature.  With  the  motion  of  a 
grateful  boy  he  leaned  forward.  His  eyes  moist 
ened. 


Cancellation  35 

"  Frankly,  Watson,"  there  was  almost  a  throb  in 
the  voice,  u  since  you  insist  I  admit  you're  right.  To 
the  club  you're  a  stranger,  but  I  feel  somehow  as 
though  I'd  known  you  a  very  long  time.  This  morn 
ing  when  I  left,  you  made  light  of  the  affair  of  last 
night;  but  nevertheless  it  was  a  mighty  big  favour 
you  did  me,  and  I'm  grateful.  I  think  you'll  like  us 
and  our  club  when  you  become  acquainted,  but  if, 
after  joining,  you  don't,  you  can  drop  membership  at 

any  time  of  course.  I  hope  you'll  understand,  I " 

He  looked  away. 

The  thing  was  well  done,  so  well  done  that  it  de 
served  a  larger  motive.  Just  where  conviction  was 
lacking,  to  touch  the  exact  point  of  deficiency, — His 
glance  returned,  found  that  of  the  other  upon  him; 
the  same  look  as  before,  from  half-closed  eyes,  but 
smiling  now,  tolerantly  sarcastic,  wholly  understand 
ing.  Irresistibly  the  blood  of  uncontrolled  ancestors 
flushed  like  a  flame  to  Tracy's  face.  He  sprang  to 
his  feet,  his  hands  still  grasping  the  chair  back.  His 
lips  opened,  but  he  did  not  speak;  for  with  the  first 
motion  Watson  too  had  risen,  stood  facing  him,  the 
chair  between. 

"  Mr.  Tracy,"  it  was  the  voice  the  doctor  would 
have  used  to  a  patient;  deferential,  non-committal, 
"  I  appreciate  your  motive — I  think — and  thank 
you."  The  sarcasm  had  left  the  eyes  now,  the  old 
wide,  almost  childish  expression  had  returned. 

"  In  the  light  of  last  night  and  what  I  know  of 
the  Lethe  Club  I  feel  quite  sure  I  understand.  Un- 


36  The  Dissolving  Circle 

der  the  circumstances  it  seems  to  me  the  part  of  a  cad 
to  do  but  one  thing."  He  paused  and  gracefully, 
deliberately,  as  though  athirst  and  the  thing  proffered 
were  a  glass  of  cold  water,  accepted  the  challenge 
unmistakable  in  the  visitor's  face.  "  I  accept  with 
thanks." 

In  the  commonwealth  of  South  Dakota  at  that  mo 
ment  there  was  one  man  at  least  taken  absolutely  by 
surprise,  absolutely  off  guard.  Tracy's  look  was 
as  though  by  accident  colliding  with  a  lamp  post,  the 
latter  had  begged  his  pardon.  He  groped. 

"  You — accept,  you  say?  " 

"  Certainly." 

Unconsciously  one  of  the  visitor's  hands  jingled  the 
coins  in  his  pockets.  An  instant  before  he  was  so  cer 
tain  the  other  realised — everything;  and  now 

The  coins  lapsed  into  silence. 

"  And  you're  ready  to  join,  to  be  initiated,  when 
ever  you're  called  on?  " 

"  Yes." 

Tracy's  shoulders,  narrow,  sloping  like  those  of 
a  woman,  lifted.  His  lip  curled  into  a  smile. 

"  By  gad,  old  man,"  he  confided  familiarly,  "  you 
gave  me  a  jolt.  I  thought  from  the  way  you  came 
at  me  you  were  going  to  refuse."  His  normal  air 
of  assurance  had  returned  and  he  laughed  easily.  "  I 
admit  I  proposed  your  name,  and  the  fellows  would 
have  made  life  miserable  for  me  if  you  hadn't  ac 
cepted." 

Watson  reflected  the  smile. 


Cancellation  37 

"  I  assure  you  I  had  no  such  thought — when  I 
understood." 

Tracy  hesitated,  decided  for  the  present  it  were 
better  to  accept  the  seeming  victory. 

"  Thanks.  But  I've  stayed  now  longer  than  I 
intended."  He  took  up  his  cap  and  started  briskly 
toward  the  door.  Hand  on  knob  he  paused. 

"  By  the  way,"  the  tone  was  elaborately  casual, 
"  have  you  anything  on  this  evening?  " 

"  Nothing  of  particular  importance." 

"  What's  the  matter  with  our  putting  you  through 
to-night  then?  "  On  the  surface  no  suggestion  could 
have  been  more  spontaneous,  more  disinterested. 
"  I  believe  there's  time  yet  to  get  a  working  force  to 
gether,  and  I  suppose  in  your  line  it's  difficult  to  set 
a  positive  date  ahead." 

Apparently  the  satire  fell  on  barren  ground.  The 
blue  eyes  remained  clear  as  a  prairie  sky. 

"  I'm  at  your  service — providing  the  engagement 
you  mentioned " 

As  before,  the  visitor's  gesture  was  all  comprehen 
sive. 

"  It's  only  a  short  one.  I  can  be  around  by  say — 
nine.  Will  that  be  convenient?  " 

"  Perfectly  so." 

Once  more  the  freckled  hand  on  the  knob  tight 
ened. 

"  All  right,  consider  it  settled."  The  speaker 
paused,  stood  a  moment  inspecting  the  long  figure 
precisely  as  it  had  first  risen,  and  for  the  same  reason 


38  The  Dissolving  Circle 

that  he  had  sat  down  at  command  the  smile  on  his 
lips  vanished.  Instantly  following,  telltale,  irresist 
ibly,  flooding,  maddening  the  hot  blood  mounted 
the  pitted  cheeks,  reached  up  to  the  shadow  of  the  cap. 
The  door  closed  behind  him. 

Early  as  it  was,  for  Tracy  went  straight  to  the  club 
rooms,  only  Barry  was  absent  when  he  entered.  A 
different  air  than  usual,  however,  was  upon  the  place, 
an  intangible  something  out  of  the  ordinary.  Con 
trary  to  their  usual  custom  the  men  were  neither  gam 
bling  nor  reading.  The  green-topped  table  in  the 
corner  was  in  shadow,  the  red  and  blue  bridge  decks 
remained  as  they  were  left  in  the  afternoon.  Only 
Morley  Butler,  the  inveterate,  was  smoking.  With 
out  comment  or  apology  the  newcomer  walked  direct 
to  the  buffet.  When  for  the  second  time  he  filled  his 
glass,  Phelps  and  Marsh  observed  each  other  know 
ingly.  They  winked. 

Tracy  flung  his  cap  on  the  table  and  sat  down. 
Butler  smoked  and  breathed  audibly.  Phelps  in 
spected  the  pattern  of  the  paper  on  the  ceiling.  The 
silence  was  ominous.  Breaking  it,  Marsh  arose  and 
stretched  himself  elaborately. 

4  There  are  just  four  of  us  here,"  he  stated  ob 
viously,  "  let's  have  a  rubber  at  bridge."  He  moved 
over  to  the  well-worn  table  and  turned  the  bulb  to  a 
ground  glass  globe  above.  "  Come  on,  you  lazy 
animals." 

Phelps  responded  with  alacrity.     Butler  tossed  his 


Cancellation  39 

cigarette  stump  into  the  grate  and  arose  indifferently. 
Tracy  alone  kept  his  seat. 

"Won't  you  play,  Norman?"  queried  Marsh  di 
rectly.  "  I've  been  reading  up  in  a  new  manual  since 
dinner  and  have  acquired  some  tricks  I  wish  particu 
larly  to  try  on  you."  His  smile  showed  a  beautiful 
row  of  teeth  beneath  his  black  moustache. 

"  They'll  break  you  sure  as — the  divorce  crop 
in  Dakota.  I  have  the  author's  assurance." 

Tracy  glanced  up,  but  made  no  motion  to  comply. 

"  I'd  be  delighted  to  accommodate  you,  I'm  sure, 
but  I  don't  think  we  have  time."  He  indicated  the 
big  electric  clock  above  the  mantel. 

"  There's  business  ahead,  you  know." 

Once  more  behind  his  back  Phelps  and  Marsh  ex 
changed  looks.  One  after  the  other  they  returned. 

"  You  were  really  in  earnest,  then,  about  initiat 
ing  that — barbarian?"  queried  Phelps  sceptically. 
"  Have  you  seen  him?  " 

"  Yes." 

"And  he  agreed?" 

"  He  promised  to  be  here  promptly  at  nine;  in  fif 
teen  minutes  now." 

Phelps  stroked  the  oval  of  his  chin  irresolutely. 

"  It  strikes  me,  the  more  I  think  of  it,"  he  de 
murred  hesitatingly,  "  that  we  ought  to  go  a  little 
slow  in  this  affair.  It's  all  right,  I  suppose,  from  your 
personal  point  of  view,  but  it's  asking  the  rest  of  us 
to  chop  off  our  noses  to  spite  another's  face.  It'll 
spoil  our  club  sure  as  thunder  if  he  sticks." 


40  The  Dissolving  Circle 

Tracy  said  nothing. 

"  And  as  far  as  I  see  there's  nothing  to  prevent 
his  staying,"  the  speaker  went  on  with  a  trace  of  heat. 
"  I  for  one  am  in  favour  of  reconsidering  while  there's 
time." 

Still  Tracy  said  nothing. 

Phelps  glanced  at  Butler  appealingly,  but  the  latter 
had  returned  impassively  to  his  seat.  Marsh,  like 
wise  abstracted,  had  his  hands  deep  in  his  trousers 
pockets.  The  second-hand  of  the  clock  went  around 
and  around.  A  step  sounded  far  down  the  stair, 
halted  at  the  outer  door,  then  at  the  inner.  Barry 
entered. 

Big,  well  fed,  round-faced,  there  was  nevertheless 
in  the  swing  of  the  newcomer's  step,  in  the  toss  with 
which  he  threw  his  coat  on  the  rack,  indication  of  the 
restless  discontent  which  was  growing  on  him  day  by 
day;  which  deliberate  inaction  of  mind  and  body  in 
evitably  brings  to  the  man  accustomed  to  doing  things. 
Quick  to  note  the  unusual,  he  flung  himself  into  a  seat 
and  looked  a  question  at  the  assembled  group.  His 
glance  paused  at  the  speaker  of  a  moment  ago. 

"  Out  with  it,  Phelps,"  he  invited  understandingly, 
"  or  if  it's  already  escaped,  repeat,  please,  for  my 
benefit."  His  eyes  tightened  whimsically.  "  Has 
some  other  benighted  tradesman  demanded  cash  in 
advance?  " 

Marsh  smiled  at  the  suggested  recollection,  but 
Phelps  did  not. 

"  No,  I  don't  give  them  the  chance  any  more,"  he 


Cancellation  41 

retorted  hotly.  "  I  wouldn't  buy  even  a  linen  collar 
here  now  if  I  had  to  have  it  sent  out  from  New  York 
by  special  messenger.  I  was  just  trying  to  reason  with 
Tracy  against  letting  in  this  man  Watson  he  says  he's 
going  to  initiate  to-night,  but  he  won't  talk." 

Barry  glanced  at  Tracy  and  the  facetious  wrinkles 
about  his  eyes  smoothed. 

"  He  really  accepted,  did  he,  Norman?  "  he  que 
ried  incredulously. 

"  It's  about  time  for  him  to  be  here  now." 

"  You  see,"  broke  in  Phelps,  "  if  we're  going  to 
reconsider  we've  got  to  be  about  it." 

The  big  man's  glance  hung  a  moment  longer,  then 
of  a  sudden  he  stretched  himself. 

"  As  far  as  I'm  concerned,"  he  drawled,  "  I  see  no 
reason  to  reconsider.  I  supposed  the  matter  was  set 
tled  before  dinner." 

"  But  at  least,"  pressed  Phelps,  "  you  have  an  opin 
ion  of  the  fellow,  of  his  fitness?  " 

One  of  Barry's  plump  hands  went  to  his  mouth  and 
he  blinked  as  a  man  will  who  yawns.  For  the 
first  time  Tracy  was  observing  him  steadily  and  the 
big  man  caught  the  look.  Something  therein  held 
his  attention,  and  for  the  second  time  the  lines  about 
his  eyes  smoothed.  Imperceptibly  the  air  of  indif 
ferent  indolence  left  him.  Instinctively  the  others 
felt  the  change,  felt  that  somehow  the  seemingly  triv 
ial  incident  had  taken  on  a  new  aspect,  one  vitally  per 
sonal. 

"  You  ask  if  I  have  an  opinion  ?  "     He  was  looking 


42  The  Dissolving  Circle 

at  Phelps,  but  even  the  latter  realised  that  it  was  not 
to  him  that  the  reply  was  directed.  "  Most  assur 
edly  I  have,  and  an  emphatic  one.  If  any  man  who 
knows  who  we  are,  what  we  stand  for,  has  no  more 
ambition,  no  more  of  something  I  won't  name,  than 
to  wish  to  join  us,  has  any  desire  to  barter  his  birth 
right  hourly  as  we  are  doing,  has  any  inclination  to 
degenerate  daily  as  we  likewise  are  doing,  I  for  one 
say  let  him  come."  In  the  rush  the  voice  paused  for 
breath.  "  An  anomaly  like  that  deserves  the  worst  he 
can  receive,  the  worst  we  can  help  to  give  him.  I 
repeat,  let  him  come." 

Listening,  Marsh  and  Phelps  shifted  unappreci- 
atively,  but  in  silence.  Morley  Butler  smiled  grimly 
to  himself.  Only  Norman  Tracy  remained  non-com 
mittal.  With  a  meaning  look  his  eyes  went  to  the 
clock.  The  hands  pointed  directly  the  hour,  and  in 
deliberate  confidence  perilously  near  a  pose  he  arose 
and,  hands  in  his  pockets,  stood  listening.  The  others, 
even  Barry,  caught  the  attitude,  waited  expectant.  A 
moment  passed;  then,  without  a  premonitory  tap  upon 
the  stairs,  a  knock  sounded  at  the  outer  door,  and  was 
repeated.  Answering,  Tracy's  chin  lifted,  his  lash- 
less  lids  drooped,  a  look  which  mirrored  the  calibre 
of  the  man,  innately  malicious,  fundamentally  sarcas 
tic,  flashed  over  his  face. 

"  The  play,"  he  commented,  "  runs  smoothly  to 
night."  His  eyes  shifted  in  ironic  indication  of  an 
imaginary  stage-wing.  "  He  comes." 


Chapter  IV 

THE    INITIATION 

SAVE  Tracy,  who  admitted  him,  the  men  were  seated 
when  Watson  entered.  In  turn  as  they  were  intro 
duced  they  arose  and  shook  hands  perfunctorily.  The 
form  complete,  Tracy  drew  two  chairs  close  to  the 
table  and,  himself  taking  one,  indicated  the  other  with 
a  wave  of  his  hand.  Ordinarily  erratic,  there  was  no 
trace  of  indecision  in  his  manner  now.  From  out  a 
drawer  beneath  the  table  he  produced  a  leather-bound 
register  and  a  fountain  pen.  Turning  over  perhaps 
a  dozen  pages  swiftly,  he  came  to  one  but  partially 
covered  with  names,  and  pressed  the  sheet  flat  with  the 
palm  of  his  hand. 

"  So  long  as  we  all  know  what  we  are  here  for,"  he 
began  curtly,  "  the  sooner  we  proceed  to  business  the 
quicker  you  will  become  one  of  us."  He  removed  the 
cap  from  the  pen  and  laid  it  beside  the  open  page. 

"  First  of  all,  please,  register."  Slightly,  very 
slightly,  the  corners  of  his  mouth  twitched.  u  If, 
sometime,  you'll  take  the  trouble  to  look  back,  you'll 
find  that  your  name  is  in  very  good  company. 
There's  more  than  one  title  on  the  preceding  pages." 

The  candidate  made  no  comment,  and  Tracy  slid 
back  his  chair  until  his  face  was  out  of  the  direct  light 
from  above  the  table. 

43 


44  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  We  have  no  stereotyped  initiatory  work,"  he  re 
sumed  as  Watson  completed  his  signature,  "  and  bind 
no  member  to  secrecy.  It  is  supposed  any  person  hon 
oured  with  admission  will  respect  the  confidence.  But 
one  requirement,  the  least  possible  to  ask,  we  do  de 
mand.  Any  candidate,  before  he  receives  duplicate 
keys  to  the  inner  and  outer  doors,  must  prove  himself 
worthy  of  them.  He  must  take  oath,  and  be  willing 
to  make  good  that  oath,  that  he  is  the  equal  of  the 
men  already  members,  that  wherever  they  lead  he  is 
not  afraid  to  follow."  The  voice  paused  and  out  of 
the  shadow  the  speaker's  eyes,  so  near  set  that  now 
they  seemed  like  the  twin  barrels  of  a  shot  gun,  sent 
their  challenge  fair  into  the  other's  face. 
"  Are  you  willing  to  take  this  oath?  " 
For  a  moment  Watson  hesitated,  and  in  it  the  gaze 
of  the  four  spectators  vibrated  from  principal  to  prin 
cipal.  Little  as  they  knew  what  was  in  Tracy's  mind, 
they  realised  that  beneath  the  query  lay  possibilities  in 
finite,  that  directing  it  was  a  definite  motive  and  a  sin 
ister  one.  Inexplicable  as  it  was,  chance,  throwing 
these  two  men  in  contact,  had  straightway  made  of 
one  the  other's  enemy.  Fantastic  as  the  suggestion 
seemed,  it  was  no  product  of  the  imagination.  It  was 
a  reality,  flaunted  itself  incontestibly  before  their  eyes. 
With  something  more  than  mere  curiosity,  a  wonder 
as  to  how  much  or  how  little  understanding  Watson 
|had  of  the  situation  in  which  he  had  deliberately 
placed  himself,  they  watched  for  a  clue  in  his  manner; 
but  none  came.  He  laid  the  pen  he  was  still  holding 


The  Initiation  45 

back  on  the  register  and  settled  himself  more  com 
fortably  in  his  seat. 

"  If  I  understand  you  correctly,"  he  verified  evenly, 
"  in  speaking  of  the  test  you  suggest  you  used  the 
word  follow.  Do  I  gather  correctly  that  there  is  pre 
cedent  for  whatever  you  have  in  mind?  " 

"  There  is,  or  will  be." 

Watson  accepted  the  qualification  indifferently. 

"  The  assurance  is  sufficient.     I  accept." 

Without  a  word  Tracy  arose.  Moving  over  to  the 
table  he  closed  the  register  deliberately  and  returned 
it  to  its  place.  From  a  companion  drawer  he  produced 
two  keys  and  laid  them  side  by  side  upon  the  polished 
table  top.  Still  in  silence  he  turned  on  the  gas  in  the 
grate,  temporarily  extinguished,  and  applied  a  match. 
It  sprang  into  flame  with  a  muffled  explosion,  and 
Morley  Butler  started  nervously,  but  apparently  Tracy 
himself  took  no  notice.  The  light  was  still  burning 
over  the  card-table,  and  as  he  moved  over  and  ex 
tinguished  it,  that  corner  of  the  room  leaped  into 
shadow.  Passing  the  rack  on  his  way  back  he  picked 
up  his  cap.  Then  for  the  first  time  he  paused,  his 
arms  folded. 

"  Mr.  Watson,"  he  said,  "  we  are  going  to  take  a 
little — air.  When  we  return  the  keys  there  are  yours." 
He  turned  to  the  mystified  four,  and  though  his  eyes 
made  the  circuit  they  paused  on  Barry.  Uncon 
sciously  his  lip  curled  and  his  head  with  the  old  trick 
tilted  back. 

"Are  you  ready?" 


46  The  Dissolving  Circle 

For  a  moment  not  a  man  stirred.  Like  chance 
auditors  of  a  sudden  called  upon  for  a  speech,  they 
knew  not  what  to  say,  what  to  do.  So  long  as 
Watson  alone  had  been  the  one  in  suspense,  the  un 
certainty  was  at  least  novel,  but  to  be  themselves  in 
volved  was  a  very  different  matter.  Insistent  as  air, 
memory  of  the  leader's  promise  of  precedent,  with  its 
infinite  possibilities,  sprang  to  their  minds.  Recol 
lection  of  their  own  tacit  agreement  to  take  active  part 
in  the  initiation  followed  close  in  its  wake.  Of  a  sud 
den  the  modestly  furnished  room  with  its  quiet  and  its 
seclusion  offered  attractions  of  which  they  had  never 
thought  it  possible. 

Tracy  took  a  couple  of  steps  toward  the  door 
meaningly. 

"  I  repeat,  gentlemen,  I'm  waiting." 

This  time  there  was  action.  Almost  simultaneously 
Barry  and  Morley  Butler  arose,  and  with  the  swift 
interchange  of  glances  which  had  become  a  habit, 
Phelps  and  Marsh  followed.  As  they  were  putting 
on  their  top-coats  Tracy  turned  curtly. 

"  Leave  them  off,"  he  directed.  "  You'll  not  want 
unnecessary  clothing  to-night." 

Again  Phelps  and  Marsh  passed  looks,  but  the 
other  two  men  obeyed  without  a  sign.  Tracy  noted 
the  acquiescence,  and  reading  it  correctly  the  curl  of 
his  lips  broadened.  Lover  of  excitement  as  of  life, 
willing  to  pay  for  it  any  price,  even  personal  friend 
ship,  as  in  a  game  of  poker,  there  could  not  be  too 
many  individual  rivalries  aroused.  Leading  the  way 


The  Initiation  47 

to  the  door  he  swung  it  wide  open  and  waited  until 
the  others  had  filed  through.  The  second  door  he 
closed,  but  sprung  back  the  lock  and  followed  Phelps 
in  the  rear  down  the  ill-lighted  stairs. 

Within  the  building  the  men  had  not  noticed  that 
the  temperature  was  changing,  but  now  outside  the 
fact  was  called  sharply  to  their  attention.  The  un 
comfortable  chill  of  day  had  developed  into  the 
damp,  penetrating  cold  of  evening.  Instead  of  low 
ering,  the  wind  had  risen,  and  as  they  stepped  from 
the  protection  of  the  doorway  on  to  the  street,  a 
gust,  laden  with  the  dust  of  ill-kept  streets,  slapped 
them  in  the  face  like  a  gritty,  unclean  hand.  Over 
head  the  network  of  telephone  wires  droned  monoto 
nously.  Near  by  the  glaring  sign  of  a  saloon 
squeaked  protestingly  on  its  fastenings.  Tracy  in 
advance  observed  the  latter  approvingly. 

"  Thanks,"  he  appreciated,  "  a  good  suggestion, " 
and  he  led  the  way  to  the  bar. 

Within  the  room  was  a  company  typical  of  the 
night  and  place;  a  half  dozen  shrewd-eyed,  unshaven 
hack  drivers,  several  young  would-be  bloods  in  vocif 
erous  neckties  and  with  evil-smelling  cigars  point 
ing  toward  the  ceiling,  an  old  rounder  with  a  con 
gested  nose  and  a  stomach  straining  at  the  buttons 
of  his  trousers.  Tracy  indicated  the  ensemble  with 
a  wave  of  his  hand. 

"  Step  up  lively,  gemmen,"  he  invited  with  a 
swagger  and  a  well-simulated  leer.  "  Beastly  cold 
night.  Have  som'thing  with  me  and  my  friends.'* 


48  The  Dissolving  Circle 

At  first  there  was  hesitation;  then  the  old  tippler 
came  forward  and  the  others  followed.  Out  of  the 
tail  of  his  eye  the  masquerader  glanced  at  Barry 
to  his  left,  but  the  face  of  the  big  man  was  a 
blank. 

Tracy  ogled  the  barkeeper  companionably. 

"  Pickwick's  mine,"  he  suggested. 

Up  and  down  went  the  order  until  every  man  was 
supplied. 

The  host  lifted  his  glass. 

"  Here's  hoping  " — a  deliberate  pause  until  the 
others,  thinking  that  all  the  toast,  drank — "  that  we 
may  never  meet  again,"  he  completed  malevolently, 
and  drained  the  liquor. 

For  a  moment  there  was  silence,  then  as  suddenly 
as  had  come  the  insult  an  angry  growl,  ubiquitous, 
ominous,  filled  the  room.  Instantly  as  wind  lifts  a 
fog  the  air  of  the  inebriate  left  the  city  man,  and 
stepping  back  he  met  menace  with  equal  menace, 
defiance  with  defiance.  For  a  second  he  stood  so; 
then  his  hand  went  to  his  pocket  and  a  banknote 
dropped  upon  the  board  in  front  of  the  dispenser  of 
drinks. 

"  Keep  the  change,"  he  said;  and  very  sober,  very 
self-contained,  now  led  the  way  to  the  door. 

Outside  he  offered  neither  comment  nor  explana 
tion,  but  in  the  teeth  of  the  wind  moved  up  the  side 
walk.  Not  a  half  block  away  another  sign,  creaking 
like  the  first  and  identical  but  in  name,  sent  forth  its 
invitation  of  light.  Directly  beneath  he  halted  and 


The  Initiation  49 

observed  Watson  with  obvious  silence.  If  he  ex 
pected  hesitation,  however,  he  was  to  be  disappointed. 
The  doctor  did  not  even  pause  for  a  glance,  but  as 
though  the  invitation  had  been  voluntary,  led  the 
way  within.  Lined  up  as  before  in  front  of  the  bar 
he  turned  deliberately  and  glanced  about  the  room. 
Save  for  the  old  toper,  the  scattering  loungers  might 
have  been  the  identical  ones  they  had  just  left.  De 
liberately  as  he  had  turned,  Watson's  blue  eyes  made 
the  round,  man  for  man,  until  one  and  all  he  had 
their  attention;  then  without  a  word  his  big  bushy 
head  made  a  motion  of  all  including,  almost  all  com 
pelling  invitation  to  join.  Without  a  second  look 
he  faced  back  once  more  and  leaned  impassively 
against  the  rail. 

Following  a  lull  that  by  comparison  made  loud  the 
drone  of  the  night  wind  without,  the  ticking  of  dust 
particles  against  the  big  plate  glass  windows,  filled 
the  place.  But  one  man  in  the  room  failed  therein 
to  send  an  unspoken  question  to  his  neighbour.  That 
one  remained  as  he  had  turned,  remained  and  waited 
— waited  until  to  the  last  individual,  his  invitation 
was  accepted.  Then  for  the  first  time  he  spoke. 

"  Rye,  any  brand,"  he  ordered. 

Once  more  he  paused  until  a  glass  was  in  every 
other  man's  hand  before  he  lifted  his  own. 

"  Gentlemen,"  he  said  quietly,  "  here's  promising 
that  as  I  never  have  done  so  before,  never  will  I  again 
ask  another  man  to  take  liquor." 

Hesitatingly,  with  oblique  glances  between  man 


5O  The  Dissolving  Circle 

and  man,  they  drank,  and  like  the  patter  of  rain  the 
empty  glasses  returned  to  the  board.  From  some 
where  in  the  depths  of  his  pockets  Watson  produced 
a  well-worn  bill  and  spread  it  flat  before  him. 
Watching  and  having  heard  the  man's  history,  Barry 
could  not  but  wonder  against  what  rainy  day  that 
particular  certificate  had  been  saved.  Of  a  sudden 
the  note  shot  forward  a  foot  and  its  former  owner 
straightened. 

"  Keep  the  change,  barkeeper,"  he  directed,  "  and 
devote  it  to  charity."  Catching  the  sudden  sarcastic 
smile  on  the  other's  aggressive,  smooth-shaven  face, 
his  own  lit  humorously. 

"  Remembering  always  that  true  charity  begins  at 
home,"  he  added  as  he  turned  to  leave. 

There  was  no  lack  of  saloons  in  the  central  dis 
trict,  and  in  grim  silence  the  six  went  the  round.  At 
first  they  created  but  a  passing  interest,  for  the  bizarre 
was  the  rule  in  this  town  and  speedily  forgotten; 
but  at  last  even  its  fundamental  indifference  was 
aroused.  Gradually,  and  apparently  casually  as 
gathers  a  pack  of  timber  wolves  behind  a  solitary 
wayfarer,  a  group  of  loungers  with  turned-up  collars 
and  flapping  arms  collected  and  followed  in  their 
wake;  stopped  outside  and  peered  through  the  win 
dows  of  the  places  where  they  stopped,  slowly  yet 
constantly  augmenting,  moved  on  when  they  moved. 
Inappreciably,  slowly  as  well,  as  an  ensemble,  the 
air  of  the  revellers  themselves  altered.  Insidiously 
changing,  the  farce  of  inebriety  with  which  the  riot 


The  Initiation  51 

had  begun  became  other  than  a  farce,  its  silence  one 
of  rigid  repression.  Instead  of  tacitly  following, 
Marsh  and  Phelps  were  now  well  to  the  fore.  Be 
neath  his  breath  the  latter  hummed  a  music-hall  ditty, 
and  during  intervals  of  waiting  executed  fancy  steps 
on  barroom  floors.  Hitherto  a  prelude,  the  game 
itself  was  on. 

Starting  down  Phillips  Avenue,  Tracy  had  led  the 
way  across  a  block  and  moved  back  gradually  on 
Main,  the  street  adjoining  to  the  west.  The  advance 
so  far  had  consumed  more  than  an  hour,  and  as 
the  group  and  its  attendant  train  reached  Ninth 
Street  they  met  the  full  outpouring  of  the  theatre 
on  the  corner.  A  buffet,  the  last  resort  in  the  vi 
cinity,  next  to  the  play-house  door,  was  Tracy's  desti 
nation,  and  abandoning  the  congested  sidewalk  he 
started  angling  across  the  street.  The  roadway  was 
littered  with  waiting  hacks  and,  well  in  advance  with 
Watson  close  behind,  crowding  between  two  cabs, 
which  stood  close  in  line  by  the  curb,  he  fairly  col 
lided  with  a  lady  hurrying  to  enter  the  carriage 
to  his  right.  With  exaggerated  courtesy  he  drew  back 
and  lifted  his  cap. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon.  I "  The  apology  halted 

abruptly  and  of  a  sudden  ended  in  a  laugh. 

"  Well  of  all  the  wonders!  "  he  digressed  broadly. 
"  Here  for  months  I've  been  trying  to  get  in  touch 
with  Mrs.  Thurston  and  now  in  an  unguarded  mo 
ment  and  without  volition  upon  my  part,  my  fondest 
wish  is  fulfilled.  It's  like  the  play." 


52  The  Dissolving  Circle 

The  black  eyes  of  the  woman  flashed  in  tolerant 
amusement. 

"  Wonders  indeed  are  at  large  to-night,"  she 
echoed  sarcastically.  Her  glance  followed  the  tor 
tuous  line  between  the  waiting  cabs  to  the  interested 
knot  recruiting  now  rapidly,  as  a  crowd  will  ever 
gather  about  a  nucleus.  u  What,  by  the  way,  are  you 
playing;  run,  sheep,  run?  My  curiosity  as  well  as 
wonder  is  aroused." 

Again  Tracy  laughed,  but  his  red  face  flamed. 

"  Yes-s."  Of  a  sudden  beneath  the  irony  the  bra 
vado  in  his  character,  ever  so  near  the  surface,  took 
complete  control.  "  Yes-s,  just  wait  a  moment  and 
you'll  see  us  go.  It's  a  splen-did  pastime."  Then 
as  unexpectedly  again,  under  stimulus  of  malicious 
inspiration,  the  mood  shifted. 

"  But  before  we  go  I  wish  you  to  meet  my  friend 
Mr.  Watson — I  beg  your  pardon,"  with  an  elaborate 
bow  to  the  man  behind — "  Dr.  Watson,  physician  and 
surgeon,  excellent  hand  with  that  dark-brown  taste. 
Permit  me:  Mrs.  Thurston,  from  New  York  City: 
Bruce  Watson,  M.  D.,  from  South  Dakota.  You'll 
be  great  friends,  I  know.  You  have  so  much  in 


common." 


This  time  the  flash  of  the  black  eyes  was  of  posi 
tive  displeasure,  the  unconscious  rounding  of  the 
nostrils  a  menace. 

u  I  trust,  Mr.  Watson,"  she  acknowledged  quietly, 
"  that  I  may  have  the  pleasure  of  meeting  you 
again — under  different  circumstances."  A  glance  sin- 


The  Initiation  53 

gularly  penetrating  inspected  the  other  from  foot  to 
head,  paused  under  compulsion  as  upon  introduction 
ninety-nine  out  of  a  hundred  glances  had  always 
halted  at  the  candour  of  the  wide-set  blue  eyes.  "  I 
think  possibly  we  might  be  better  friends  than  this 
meeting  would  seem  to  indicate." 

In  silence  Watson  lifted  his  hat  and  with  a  faint 
smile  the  woman  entered  the  cab  quickly  and  was 
gone. 

For  the  fraction  of  a  minute  following,  and  mo 
tionless  as  the  building  before  him,  Tracy  stood 
watching  the  carriage  as  it  rambled  down  the  cobbled 
street;  then  of  a  sudden  his  hand  went  to  his  throat, 
worked  impatiently  at  the  binding  collar.  Equally 
unexpectedly  he  turned  back  the  way  he  came,  and 
as  he  passed  Watson  saw  that  his  face  had  grown 
livid  to  the  lips.  Back  to  the  end  of  the  line  he 
stalked,  back  until  the  crowd  of  interested  spectators 
forced  themselves  to  his  attention,  and  stopped. 
Once  more  his  hand  went  to  his  throat  and  tugged 
until  the  band  of  linen  ripped.  His  face,  malevolent 
as  that  of  a  savage,  faced  the  spectators  squarely. 

"  Come  on,  you  perverts,"  he  challenged  with  a 
great  oath,  "  you  carrion-hunting  prairie  kites !  Come 
on,  if  you  wish  to  see  the  sport  1  "  and  down  the  in 
cline  toward  the  river,  fair  in  the  centre  of  the  street, 
he  started  at  a  swift  dog  trot;  Watson  and  the  others 
trailing  at  his  heels. 


Chapter  V 

ABANDON 

To  repeat,  at  the  risk  of  becoming  tedious,  Sioux 
Falls,  small  but  throbbingly  cosmopolitan,  funda 
mentally  indifferent,  was  accustomed  to  unexpected 
vagaries.  Through  long  succession  of  manifold  ex 
perience  with  a  restless,  supercilious  class,  vauntingly 
transient,  she  had  grown  blase  to  the  unconventional ; 
but  this  night  was  an  exception.  Somehow,  in  the 
inexplicably  rapid  way  scandal  travels,  word  of  the 
revelling  six  had  gone  ahead;  and  against  all  pre 
cedent,  despite  the  wind  and  the  cold  and  the  flying 
dust,  the  sidewalks  were  thronged  like  those  of  a 
country  village  before  a  circus  parade.  The  door 
ways  of  the  darkened  office  buildings  were  crowded 
with  the  curious  seeking  temporary  shelter.  The 
windows  of  the  brilliantly  lighted  drug  stores, 
saloons,  and  restaurants  became  lined  with  rows  of 
expectant  faces  behind  which  busy  fingers  plied  hand 
kerchiefs  vigorously  to  remove  the  vapour  which 
condensed  on  the  cold  surface  almost  as  rapidly  as 
removed.  At  the  south  aspect  of  the  big  hotel  shades 
raised  like  the  lids  of  many  opening  eyes,  and  be 
neath  lifted  sashes  faces  of  men  and  women  peered 
forth. 

Where   the    multitude    of   curious    had   collected 

54 


Abandon  55 

from  no  one  stopped  to  explain.  Just  what  they  ex 
pected  no  one  knew.  Word,  a  vague  word  of  the 
unusual,  had  come.  Above  on  the  hill  a  great  crowd 
had  gathered;  a  crowd  that  rumbled  in  many  voices 
which  they,  the  watchers,  could  not  distinguish,  and 
was  silent,  and  rumbled  again.  Ahead  of  it,  leaving 
it,  save  for  a  few  stragglers  who  like  flotsam  followed 
in  their  wake,  a  group  of  men,  the  first  three  in  file 
like  Indians  on  the  warpath,  the  others  following  in 
disorder,  were  coming  at  a  run.  The  incline  was  de 
cided  and  as  they  approached  they  came  faster  and 
faster.  Silent  themselves,  the  shouts  of  the  accom 
panying  rabble  began  to  grow  distinct.  Spectators 
in  doorways  caught  up  their  cries  and  with  clapping 
hands  passed  them  on. 

"  'Rah  for  the  divorcees!  "  they  appreciated. 

"  Police !  police !  "  but  not  a  bluecoat  was  in  sight. 

"Long  live  firewater!  "  roared  an  unknown  in  a 
voice  like  a  factory  siren,  and  the  irony  caught. 

"Firewater  forever!"  they  laughed  and  clapped 
louder  than  before. 

Meanwhile,  apparently  oblivious  that  a  spectator 
was  within  miles,  still  fair  in  the  middle  of  the  street, 
glancing  neither  to  the  right  nor  left,  went  grim- 
faced  Tracy  with  long  Watson  seemingly  pasted  to 
his  heels  and  the  others  following  as  best  they  might. 
On  to  the  intersection  of  Ninth  Street  and  Phillips 
Avenue  he  went  and  turned  south;  on  down  the 
avenue  to  Tenth  and  again  switched  east ;  on  between 
wholesale  houses  and  across  railroad  tracks;  on  where 


56  The  Dissolving  Circle 

the  paving  ended  and  native  mother  earth  swallowed 
up  the  steady  pat,  pat  of  his  footfalls;  on  until  the 
river  itself  was  reached  and  a  bridge  loomed  like  a 
skeleton  in  advance.  Then,  still  withoyt  a  pause, 
still  without  a  backward  glance,  he  did  the  unex 
pected.  Instead  of  taking  the  planked  roadway  he 
shifted  far  to  the  right  and  under  full  momentum 
started  clambering  up  the  incline  to  the  narrow  steel 
trestle  twenty  feet  overhead. 

For  the  fraction  of  a  second  the  man  following 
hesitated.  Had  an  observer  been  where  no  observer 
was  they  would  have  caught  a  sudden  tightening  of 
the  broad  nostrils  and  a  simultaneous  intaking  of 
breath  that  was  not  from  weariness.  Had  they 
known  him  intimately,  as  likewise  no  one  did  know 
him,  they  would  have  realised  to  the  full  the  ironic 
chance  which  as  from  inspiration  had  selected  his 
most  stubborn  instinct:  unreasoning  terror  of  alti 
tude.  Then  had  they  still  been  there  they  would 
have  seen  the  long  body  crouch  like  a  giant  cat  pre 
paring  to  spring  or  a  bull  moose  to  charge,  and  with 
eyes  glued  to  the  shadow  of  the  back  ahead,  go  up 
steadily,  hand  over  hand,  knee  over  knee,  up  until 
the  incline  merged  into  a  narrow  black  ribbon  ex 
tending  ahead  a  little  way  dimly  and  then  merging 
into  darkness. 

Likewise  just  for  a  moment  as  he  reached  the  sum 
mit  of  the  span  Tracy  paused,  clinging  to  the  iron 
beneath  his  knees  like  a  monkey.  He  had  no  terror 
of  height,  but  the  empty  blackness  revealed  ahead 


Abandon  57 

made  his  flesh  creep.  Despite  the  liquor  he  had 
drunk  his  nerves  were  on  edge  from  the  night  before, 
and  in  that  vacancy  he  fancied  he  saw  anything,  every 
thing;  products  of  fancy  more  horrible  than  any 
reality  could  have  been.  Of  a  sudden  as  he  halted 
he  had  the  impression  that  one  figment,  more  malevo 
lent  than  the  rest,  had  drawn  close,  had  laid  a  heavy 
hand  upon  his  shoulder  and  in  jeering  pantomime  in 
dicated  the  rocking,  menacing,  dead  black  surface 
of  the  river  forty  feet  beneath.  Instinctively  he  re 
coiled,  and  with  almost  a  feeling  of  hope  sent  a 
glance  of  inquiry  beneath  his  arm.  Perhaps,  more 
than  perhaps,  probably — Not  three  feet  behind  him, 
impassive,  waiting,  Watson  was  returning  him  look 
for  look. 

As  at  the  last  moment  before  the  theatre  again 
the  man's  face  went  livid.  The  hot  blood  spurted 
through  his  body  as  from  an  opened  artery.  His 
fingers  tightened  like  the  talons  of  a  hawk  on  its  prey. 

"  Not  enough  yet,  eh?"  he  flamed.  "Come  on 
then,  damn  you;  and  God  have  mercy  on  your  soul 
if  you  fall!" 

From  that  time  on  neither  spoke  a  word.  Slowly, 
feeling  his  way  foot  by  foot,  Tracy  led  the  pace  and 
long  Watson  followed;  his  eyes  never  for  a  moment 
glancing  down,  never  for  an  instant  leaving  the 
deeper  blackness  of  the  other's  back.  Clear  of  the 
banks  the  full  force  of  the  north  wind,  a  very  gale 
now,  caught  them  fair,  tugged  at  them  like  sinister 
fingers  reaching  up  from  the  black  depths  beneath. 


58  The  Dissolving  Circle 

It  was  growing  steadily  colder  and  ice  was  forming 
on  the  surface  of  the  steel.  Tracy  wore  gloves,  but 
Watson's  hands  were  bare,  and  he  could  feel  them 
gradually  growing  numb.  When  first  his  damp  fin 
gers  had  touched  the  dry  under  surface  of  the  narrow 
plate  he  was  traversing  they  had  frosted  and  left 
the  cuticle  behind;  then  came  the  steady  flow  of  blood, 
and  he  noticed  the  bite  no  more.  Now  and  then  a 
gust  of  wind  stronger  than  usual,  mingled  with  pow 
dery  snow  and  sleet,  seemed  like  a  puff  of  smoke 
to  fairly  take  the  men's  breath  away,  and  for  a  second 
they  would  pause  and  gasp  for  very  life;  then  with 
a  muttered  curse  sounding  above  the  whistle  of  the 
storm  and  the  clash  of  the  river  against  the  piers, 
Tracy  would  lead  on,  and  like  an  avenging  shadow 
Watson  would  follow;  hand  grip  for  hand  grip, 
kneefall  for  kneefall.  How  long  it  took  them  to 
unroll  that  black  ribbon  they  did  not  know.  Whether 
any  or  all  of  the  other  five  were  following  they  like 
wise  had  no  knowledge,  for  with  the  coming  of  the 
descent  and  the  measuring  of  the  last  foot  Tracy  had 
swiftened  his  pace  and,  silent  again,  leaped  into  the 
roadway  and  the  swinging  jog  trot  of  the  ap 
proach. 

Then  on  again  afresh  they  went,  the  two  of  them 
alone  now,  down  an  incline  until  the  level  of  the  dis 
trict  was  reached,  over  more  railroad  tracks,  between 
lumber  yards,  brick  yards  and  warehouses,  follow 
ing  the  irregular  street  convenience  had  formed 
parallel  to  the  river's  bank.  As  everywhere  on  the 


Abandon  59 

east  side,  the  light  was  inadequate,  the  roadway  lit 
tered  with  all  manner  of  impedimenta  and,  where  un- 
paved,  cut  deep  from  the  wheels  of  heavy  trucks. 
In  addition  the  footing  was  becoming  treacherous 
from  the  gathering  ice,  and  the  gait  of  they  who 
ran  took  on  the  uncertainty  of  the  inebriate.  Once 
Tracy  in  advance  slipped  and  fell  with  a  curse;  but 
getting  up  he  went  on  faster  than  before,  on  appar 
ently  as  though  he  intended  going  miles,  on  as  if 
his  own  soul's  salvation  was  at  stake,  on  until  between 
him  and  the  river  only  a  single  railroad  track  inter 
vened.  Then,  as  suddenly  as  he  had  changed  tactics 
at  the  bridge,  he  stopped  and  whirled  about.  He 
was  panting  like  a  racehorse  coming  under  the  wire, 
and  beneath  the  summer  suit  the  light  from  the 
street  lamp  across  the  river  showed  his  chest  rising 
and  falling  visibly.  A  second  he  faced  the  other 
so;  then  slowly  he  began  to  take  off  his  coat. 

"  My  friend,"  he  halted  between  gasps,  u  can  you 
swim?  " 

Very  quietly  Watson  removed  his  coat  likewise 
and  began  to  unloose  his  heavy  shoes. 

"  I  have  never  tried." 

"Not  raised — near  water — eh?" 

"  Not  within  a  hundred  miles." 

Tracy's  coat  and  vest  were  on  the  ground,  his 
bare  shirt  sleeves  billowing  in  the  wind. 

"  Looks  nice  and — deep  down  there,"  he  was  get 
ting  his  breath  again,  "  deep  and  wide.  Think  one 
could  dive  from  here  safely?  " 


60  The  Dissolving  Circle 

Watson  made  no  comment. 

Tracy  hesitated  and  even  in  the  half  light  the 
other  could  see  his  face  work. 

"  Like  to  take  a  lesson,  would  you?  "  The  voice 
was  a  growl;  the  look  which  accompanied  it  vicious 
as  of  a  wild  beast.  u  I  had  a  long-distance  record 


once." 


Again  Watson  made  no  comment.  His  tacitur 
nity  was  maddening. 

Forgetful  that  there  was  no  collar  there  now  to 
bind,  Tracy's  hand  went  tugging  to  his  throat.  With 
another  movement  he  threw  his  cap  to  the  ground 
and  tramped  it  with  his  feet.  Like  a  flag  of  danger 
his  stiff  red  hair  waved  in  the  gale. 

"  Come  on,  then,"  he  challenged  with  a  sudden 
leap  down  the  steeply  inclined  bank.  "  Follow  me  if 
you  dare,  and  before  God  I  hope  you'll  never  reach 
the  other  bank."  Gingerly  he  broke  the  thin  ice 
already  forming  along  the  shore;  then  like  a  duck 
going  to  water  leaped  far  out  and  with  long,  sure 
strokes  aimed  for  the  light  which  marked  the  city 
proper.  Halfway  across  he  turned  on  his  back  and 
looked  the  way  he  had  come;  but  on  the  river's  sur 
face,  as  he  was,  he  could  see  nothing.  He  tried  to  lis 
ten,  but  the  flapping  of  the  water  under  the  wind  cut 
off  every  other  sound.  For  a  minute  he  floated  so, 
waiting,  undecided;  then  once  more  he  forged  ahead 
at  full  speed  and  in  the  darkness  and  the  storm 
clambered  up  the  opposite  bank  without  a  backward 
glance. 


Abandon  61 

The  rooms  of  the  Lethe  Club  were  precisely  as 
Tracy  had  left  them  when  Phelps  and  Marsh,  first 
to  return,  came  apologetically  within  and  with  chat 
tering  teeth  sought  the  welcome  heat  of  the  grate. 
For  five  minutes  they  stood  before  the  blaze  in  si 
lence,  each  industriously  rubbing  his  hands  and  each 
waiting  for  the  other  to  speak.  At  last  Phelps,  im 
patient,  cleared  his  throat  with  unnecessary  vigour. 

"  Well,"  he  insinuated,  "  I  hope  you  and  the  other 
fellows  are  satisfied  now."  The  effect  of  the  liquor 
he  had  drunk  was  wearing  off  and  he  was  in  the  mood 
of  a  petulant  child.  "  By  to-morrow  morning  our 
names  will  be  in  every  mouth  in  Sioux  Falls,  and  by 
evening  all  over  the  country,  copied  in  the  home 
papers  and  everywhere  else." 

Marsh  flung  himself  into  a  seat  and  turned  down 
his  collar. 

"  Granted,  the  last  part,"  he  echoed  curtly;  "but 
in  admitting  we're  asses  please  include  yourself. 
Don't  spring  the  '  more  righteous  than  thou '  atti 
tude  to-night." 

"Include  myself!"  Phelps  swung  around  an 
grily.  "Include  myself!  Well,  I  should  say  not. 
I  did  the  best  I  could  to  prevent  your  going, 
didn't  I?" 

Marsh  tugged  at  the  ends  of  his  moustache  in  si 
lence. 

"  I  repeat,  I  did  my  best  to  prevent  you  all  going 
foolish,  didn't  I?" 

The  other  made  a  gesture  of  repressed  dissent. 


62  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  Go  on,"  he  temporised.  "  I  don't  want  to  quar 
rel  with  you." 

"  But  answer  me,  quarrel  or  no  quarrel." 
"  Yes,  then,  you  did  the  best  you  could — perhaps." 
A  sarcastic  pause.    "  But  nevertheless  you  went  along, 
didn't  you?" 

a  T »» 

"  Answer  me,  this  time.  I  repeat,  you  went 
along?" 

"Yes,  a " 

"  And  sang  and  kicked  up  your  heels  while  the 
rest  of  us  laughed." 

They  were  both  standing  now  and  spitting  at  each 
other  like  strange  cats  in  an  alley. 

"  Yes,  a  fellow — don't  interrupt  me  till  I  get 
through,  I  tell  you — a  fellow  with  any  nerve  what 
ever  couldn't  do  otherwise  when  the  rest  of  you " 

Of  a  sudden  he  paused  at  a  look  on  the  dark  face 
so  near.  "What  are  you  laughing  at?"  he  de 
manded. 

"  Nerve,  eh !  "  Marsh's  black  moustache  fairly 
bristled  with  sarcastic  mirth.  "  Bragging  of  nerve — 
and  you  here  !  " 

Phelps'  face  went  crimson. 

"Well,  you're  here,  too,  aren't  you?" 

"  Certainly,  and  when  I  begin  to  pose "  He 

went  off  again,  in  a  gale  of  real  mirth  this  time,  and 
the  atmosphere  cleared.  They  both  sat  down. 

"  Speaking  of  publicity,  though," — this  time  Phelps 
carefully  avoided  the  former  bog, — "  I'd  rather  my 


Abandon  63 

house  had  burned  down  than  had  the  affair  of  to 
night  happen.  It'll  get  into  the  New  York  papers 
sure  as  thunder;  the  editors  jump  at  every  scrap  of 
scandal  from  here,  and  back  home  they'll  read " 

"Who'll  read,  your  wife!" 

"Wife  nothing !"  A  look  of  sublime  contempt 
for  the  other's  dulness  flashed  over  the  oval  face. 
"  My  wife  can  read  if  she  wishes  and  be  blest,  it's 
not  of  her — — " 

"  Oh,  I  see— I— see !  " 

Involuntarily  Phelps'  face  grew  redder  and  redder. 
He  wished  to  be  angry,  but  somehow  he  couldn't. 

"  Well,"  he  defended  doggedly,  "  I'm  no  worse 
than  the  rest  any  way."  His  voice  lowered,  and  he 
glanced  swiftly  at  the  door.  "  Tracy  himself  for 
that  matter,  if  he'd  ever  anticipated  the  crowd " 

Marsh  drew  closer.  The  quarrel  of  a  bit  ago  was 
forgotten. 

"  Tracy,"  he  suggested,  "  I  never  knew " 

"  Well,  I  did  and  " — again  the  surreptitious  glance 
at  the  entrance — "  and,  confound  him,  it  serves  him 
right.  He  told  me  all  his  troubles  one  evening;  he 
was  all  to  pieces  at  the  time  and  about  three  sheets 
in  the  wind.  He's  going  to  the  devil  by  the  shortest 
route  these  days." 

"Yes,  yes;  we  all  see  that."  Marsh  bit  at  his 
nails  impatiently.  "  But  the  story.  I'm  interested." 

Phelps  shifted  in  his  seat  uncomfortably. 

"  Some  other  time  I'll  tell  you.  Hell  be  coming 
now  soon,  and  if  he  heard  us " 


64  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"Coming  nothing!  He  was  wound  up  for  two 
hours  when  we  left  him  down  by  the  bridge.  What 
is  it?" 

For  an  instant  Phelps'  mouth  set  stubbornly;  then 
the  temptation  grew  too  strong. 

"  Well,  to  pack  it  small,  it  seems  that  when  he 
and  his  wife  broke  up  finally — they  hadn't  lived  to 
gether  for  years  previously  and  he'd  spent  most  of 
his  time  in  Chicago — she  was  so  glad  to  get  rid  of 
him  that  she  promised  if  he'd  cut  out  and  get  a  di 
vorce  decently  and  not  get  her  name  mixed  up  in 
public  she  not  only  wouldn't  oppose  him,  but  wouldn't 
even  ask  for  alimony." 

"  Gad,  I  don't  blame  her,"  commented  Marsh. 
"  He'd  be  cheap  to  lose  at  any  price.  But  go  on, 
where's  the  girl  come  in?" 

Phelps  looked  at  the  other  frostily. 

"  I  was  just  getting  to  that,  but  if  you " 

"  Pardon  me.    Go  on." 

"  Well,  that's  just  where  the  fun  begins.  He  met 
her  in  Chicago  and  passed  himself  off  as  an  unmarried 
man.  She  doesn't  realise  to  this  day  so  far  as  I 
know " 

Marsh  slapped  his  thigh  explosively. 

"  Gad!  "  he  repeated  in  interjection,  "  this  is  rich. 
She  knows,  of  course,  he's  there,  and  when  she  reads 
to-morrow,  sees  his  name  with  '  divorce  '  at  the  head 

of  the  column But  a  hundred  pardons,  I  didn't 

mean  to  interrupt." 

Phelps'  glance  was  more  icy  than  before. 


Abandon  65 

"  The  real  complication  I  hadn't  told  you,"  he 
suggested  maliciously.  "  But  under  the  circum 
stances " 

"  Oh,  pshaw,  I  won't  do  it  again.    Go  on." 

For  the  second  time  the  ice  thawed,  but  less  read 
ily  than  before.  The  voice  lowered. 

"  The  nib  of  the  thing  is  this.  Not  only  did  he 
misrepresent  himself,  but  he  stepped  into  the  shoes 
of  another  fellow — Tracy  is  fascinating  as  the  devil 
with  women  when  he  wishes — cut  him  out  when  he 
was  already  engaged  solid  to  the  girl."  The  speaker 
paused  as  though  that  was  the  end  of  the  story. 

"  And  the  other  man?  " 

Phelps  was  positively  uncomfortable  now.  Too 
late  he  realised  that  already  he'd  told  more  than  he 
should. 

"  I  ought  not  to  repeat  that.  It  was  confiden 
tial." 

"  But  I  won't  tell." 

Phelps  got  up  and  walked  back  and  forth  for  a 
minute.  Then  he  sat  down. 

'*  The  other  man,  between  you  and  me,  is  what's 
sending  Tracy  these  days  to  the  bow-wows.  It  seems 
he  was  a  student  from  the  West  some  place  taking 
a  course  at  one  of  the  colleges  when  he  met  the  girl 
and  they  became  engaged.  He  was  a  poor  devil, 
and  after  he'd  graduated  he  returned  home  to  make 
his  fortune.  It's  the  eternal  story  repeated.  While 
he's  gone  Tracy  slides  in.  You  see  the  point?  " 

"  Yes."     For  some  reason  both  of  the  men  had 


66  The  Dissolving  Circle 

become  serious  now.  "  Tracy  and  he,  I  judge,  have 
never  seen  each  other?  " 

"  Exactly,  and  Tracy  for  one  doesn't  intend  they 
ever  shall.  He  didn't  tell  me  so  precisely,  but  he 
intimated  that  things  were  ominous  when  the  engage 
ment  was  first  broken." 

"  I  see."  Marsh  was  stroking  his  moustache  again 
fiercely.  "  I  see.  He  didn't  mention,  by  the  way, 
any  names?  " 

"Names I"  Phelps'  face  formed  into  a  sarcastic 
grin.  "  Names !  Did  you  ever  play  Norman  Tracy 
for  an  absolute  fool?  Names!  "  Of  a  sudden  the 
voice  paused,  and  face  and  body  lapsed  into  an  atti 
tude  of  exaggerated  ennui. 

"  Damn !    I'm  cold  yet,"  he  shivered  meaningly. 

But  it  was  not  Tracy  who  entered.  It  was  Irving 
Barry,  and  a  moment  later  Morley  Butler  followed. 
Both  men  had  their  hands  deep  in  their  trousers' 
pockets,  both  were  shivering  like  a  maverick  in  the 
teeth  of  a  blizzard.  In  silence  Barry  drew  up  to  the 
fire,  but  Butler  first  went  to  the  buffet  and  with  a  hand 
which  trembled  lit  the  inevitable  cigarette.  As  he 
returned  Phelps,  warm  and  comfortable  now,  eyed 
the  two  newcomers  amusedly. 

"  Well,  you  certainly  are  a  happy-looking  pair," 
he  satirised.  "  Where,  pray,  are  Tracy  and  friend?  " 

Barry  paid  no  attention  to  the  query,  but  Butler 
turned  half  about. 

"  I  don't  know." 

Phelps  laughed  openly. 


Abandon  67 

"Don't  know,  eh?"  He  winked  at  Marsh  ap 
preciatively.  "  Your  nerve  failed  too,  did  it?  " 

Butler  made  no  reply,  but  it  required  an  avalanche 
to  suppress  Stephen  Phelps. 

"  Which  way  were  they  going,  then,  when  you  left 
them?"  he  pressed. 

There  was  an  appreciable  silence. 

"  I  wasn't  aware  that  I'd  made  the  confession  you 


intimate." 


"  Oh."  The  obvious  appealed  to  the  boy-man  at 
last  "  I— beg  your  pardon." 

After  that  conversation  lapsed.  Barry  sat  in  the 
mantel  nook  stolid  as  an  oyster.  Butler,  equally  si 
lent,  hitched  his  chair  closer  and  closer  to  the  blaze 
until  the  smell  of  varnish  was  pungent  in  their  nos 
trils.  Marsh  and  Phelps,  ostensibly  indifferent,  took 
up  magazines;  but  after  the  first  minute  and  until 
eighteen  by  the  clock  had  passed  by,  neither  turned 
a  page.  Then  almost  simultaneously  two  sheets  went 
over  noisily.  Next  moment  Tracy  entered,  alone. 

Exaggeratedly  unconcerned,  the  readers,  one  after 
the  other,  glanced  up;  then  in  genuine  surprise  the 
periodicals  dropped.  Involuntarily  also  Butler  arose, 
and  even  Barry  whirled  about  in  open-mouthed  aston 
ishment. 

"  Well,  of  all  the  drowned  rats!  "  blurted  Phelps. 
"Where,  in  Heaven's  name,  have  you  been,  man?  " 

Ignoring  the  question,  even  by  a  glance,  Tracy 
took  the  place  Butler  had  just  vacated.  Without  coat 
or  vest  or  cap,  dripping  still  and  mud-stained,  a  punc- 


68  The  Dissolving  Circle 

ture  in  the  toe  of  one  shoe  ejecting  water  like  a  foun 
tain  with  every  move  he  made,  he  faced  about  and 
one  by  one  included  every  man  in  the  room  in  a 
slow  glance  of  sarcastic  contempt.  Almost  immedi 
ately  under  the  heat  his  clothes  began  to  steam  and 
at  his  feet  a  little  puddle  of  water  grew  larger  and 
larger.  Five  minutes  passed  before  Phelps  recovered 
from  his  first  rebuff ;  then  again  he  found  his  voice. 

"  Where's  Watson?  "  he  asked  abruptly. 

Tracy  stepped  aside  a  half  foot  to  avoid  the  gath 
ering  puddle. 

"  I  can't  tell  you."  He  looked  at  the  questioner 
sourly.  "  At  the  bottom  of  the  river  for  all  I  know." 

As  usual  when  the  trivial  becomes  serious,  Phelps 
subsided,  but  in  his  corner  big  Barry  straightened. 

"  Was  that  a  joke?  "  he  asked  evenly. 

Tracy  wheeled  half  about. 

"  Do  I  look  as  though  I  was  in  a  mood  for  hu 
mour  ?  "  he  countered. 

"  No." 

"  You  have  your  answer  then." 

Involuntarily  Barry  half  rose  from  his  seat;  then 
with  an  effort  he  sat  down  again. 

"  Pardon  me,  Tracy,  if  I  take  you  at  your  word," 
he  said  coldly.  "  What  did  you  do  to  Watson?  " 

Again  Tracy  wheeled. 

"  And  pardon  me  if  I  answer  with  a  question. 
Why  weren't  you  along  to  see?" 

Barry's  big  good-natured  mouth  closed  in  a  straight 
line. 


Abandon  69 

"  We'll  not  discuss  that  now.     I  repeat  my  ques 


tion." 


"  And  supposing  I  decline " 

"  You  won't  when  you  think  it  over  a  moment." 

Tracy  hesitated,  and  the  meaning  of  the  other's 
insistence  appealed  to  him.  The  vestige  of  a  scowl 
left  his  face. 

"  You  must  think  I'm  an  Apache,"  he  defended  re 
luctantly.  "  I  didn't  do  anything  to  Watson,  of 
course.  The  last  time  I  saw  him  we  were  on  the  other 
side  of  the  river.  After  that  I  swam  across,  down 
below  the  Eighth  Street  bridge,  and  came  directly 
here.  What  became  of  him  I  don't  know." 

Barry  cleared  his  throat  deliberately. 

"Your  first  remark,  then,  was  a  joke  after  all?" 

Tracy  moved  a  step  farther  away  from  the  blaze. 
His  clothes  had  ceased  dripping  now. 

"  Perhaps  it  was  and  perhaps  it  wasn't."  His  lash- 
less  eyes  were  of  a  sudden  fastened  upon  the  ques 
tioner  fairly.  "  Watson  informed  me,  if  it  would 
interest  you,  that  he'd  never  tried  to  swim  in  his  life." 

For  a  quarter  of  a  minute  Barry  returned  the  look. 

"  And  you  didn't  wait  to  see  what  he  did,  how  he 
came  out?  " 

"  I  most  emphatically  did  not." 

Of  a  sudden  Barry  was  on  his  feet,  tumbling  into 
his  top-coat. 

"  Tracy,"  he  flamed  menacingly,  "  you  don't  de 
serve  the  consideration,  but  I'll  go  back  there  to 
Eighth  Street  and  look  about  myself  before  I  notify 


70  The  Dissolving  Circle 

the  police.  If  I  don't  find  Watson  though,  or  he 
isn't  here  when  I  return " 

"  You  may."  All  at  once  Tracy  had  grown  very 
much  at  ease. 

«  You  think " 

"  I  know "  the  old  insolently  sarcastic  smile 

had  returned  to  the  thin  lips,  "  I  know — that  you're 
an  ass,  Barry.  Watson's  on  the  stairs  right  now." 


Chapter  VI 

THE    AFTERMATH 

THE  doors  had  purposely  been  left  unlocked  and 
through  them  came  upon  the  scene  a  brand  new  actor: 
Bruce  Watson,  dominant.  Save  for  the  damp  spat 
of  his  stockinged  feet  his  passage  through  the  hall 
had  been  noiseless.  Only  the  scraping  of  his  stiffly 
frozen  trousers  legs,  each  against  each,  broke  the  si 
lence  of  the  room  as  he  entered.  Except  that  at  the 
finger  ends  the  blood  had  clotted,  face  and  hands 
were  clean.  By  no  action  or  mannerism  did  he  show 
the  slightest  trace  of  feeling;  yet  even  blundering 
Phelps  read  as  though  high  in  the  sky  the  warning 
of  his  transformation,  and  was  silent.  Bruce  Watson 
aroused  was  animate  ice. 

In  continued  silence  and  with  five  pairs  of  eyes  fol 
lowing  him  like  those  of  so  many  daguerreotypes  he 
advanced  across  the  room.  He  was  carrying  under 
his  arm  a  parcel  like  a  small  bucket  wrapped  in  paper, 
but  at  the  table  he  stopped  and  setting  it  down  folded 
his  hands  over  the  top.  Deliberately  he  looked  from 
spectator  to  spectator. 

"  You  were  waiting  for  me?  " 

Three  pairs  of  the  curiously  expectant  eyes  shifted 
to  Tracy  meaningly  and  responsive  the  chin  of  the 
leader  went  up,  his  eyelids  down. 

"  Yes  and  no.     I  for  one  was  warming  myself." 

71 


72  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  In  preparation  for  additional  tests  of — nerve?  " 

Tracy  forced  a  smile. 

"  No,  the  initiation  is  over." 

The  fingers  with  the  bruised  tips  changed  position, 
upper  for  lower. 

"  You're  quite  sure  the  results  so  far  have  been 
entirely — adequate?  " 

Involuntarily  Tracy  thrust  his  hands  into  his 
trousers  pockets;  then,  at  touch  of  the  steaming  damp 
ness,  removed  them  disgustedly. 

"  Yes." 

Watson  leaned  a  bit  forward  over  the  table. 

"  Pardon  my  being  insistent,  but  I  don't  wish  the 
future  to  bring  any  question.  You're  morally  certain 
that  I've  proven  myself  worthy  of  membership  to  this 
club,  worthy  of  your  individual  society?" 

Tracy's  red  face  grew  visibly  redder.  He  remem 
bered  the  bridge  and  the  river  bank — and  was  not 
comfortable. 

"  Yes,"  he  repeated. 

"  Thank  you."  The  long  body  drew  back. 
"  There  would  seem  then  to  be  but  a  single  consid 
eration  remaining  before  I  accept  the  latchkeys  and 
make  myself  at  home.  Does  that  one  occur  to  you?  " 

Tracy  drew  his  hand  across  his  face  absently.  He 
began  to  feel  like  a  gambler  at  roulette  when  the  ball 
commences  to  slacken  speed. 

"  No." 

"  So?  "  The  broad  arch  of  Watson's  eyes  lifted. 
"  I  shall  have  to  inform  you  then."  Once  more  he 


The  Aftermath  73 

inclined  a  shade  nearer.  "  Without  paraphrase  it's 
whether  or  no  you,  Norman  Tracy,  the  self-announced 
arbiter,  are  a  capable  judge,  have  yourself  the  quali 
fications  demanded.  Is  the  logic  at  fault?  " 

Slower,  slower  went  the  tiny  ball  and  the  red- 
haired  man  felt  his  muscles  tightening. 

"  No,"  he  said  again. 

"  Thank  you  once  more."  The  voice  was  icily 
courteous.  "  I  presume  you  are  willing,  more  than 
willing,  to  settle  that  uncertainty  immediately?  " 

The  purr  of  the  marble  was  silent  and  Tracy  knew 
that  he  had  lost;  but  spectators  were  watching. 

"  Assuredly  I'm  willing,"  he  echoed  mechanically. 

Very  gravely  Watson  inclined  his  head  in  acknowl 
edgment. 

"  I  had  no  doubt  you  would  be,  so  I  came  pre 
pared."  His  stiffened  shirt  had  thawed  now  and  one 
after  the  other  he  hitched  the  sleeves  well  toward  the 
elbow.  "  I'll  only  keep  you  waiting  a  moment."  One 
of  the  long  arms  swept  back  the  magazines  until  the 
corner  of  the  table  was  free,  the  other  removed  the 
wrapping  from  the  something  he  had  brought  with 
him  and  it  stood  revealed,  a  corrugated  steel  can  about 
a  foot  high  by  eight  inches  in  diameter,  and  enameled 
fiery  red.  Watson  set  it  firmly  in  the  centre  of  the 
open  space  and  unscrewed  a  button  on  the  top. 

"  I  nearly  always  make  it  a  point  late  in  the  fall 
to  go  goose  hunting,"  he  explained  minutely,  "  and 
for  that  kind  of  shooting  I  prefer  to  use  bulk  powder 
and  to  load  my  own  shells." 


74  The  Dissolving  Circle 

His  raw  fingers  were  bleeding  afresh  and  the  screw 
turned  slowly. 

"  This  season  I  laid  in  my  usual  supply  of  ammu 
nition,  but  for  certain  reasons  did  not  use  it."  At 
last  the  cap  had  loosened  and  tilting  the  can  he  al 
lowed  a  few  drams  of  the  black  granules  to  sift  into 
his  hand.  "  I  have  no  doubt  it  is  good,  but  we'll 
make  sure."  Bending  over  he  tossed  the  sample  de 
liberately  into  the  grate.  Instantly  there  was  a  flash 
and  a  report  and  a  cloud  of  smoke,  flame,  and  as 
bestos  wool.  The  next  instant  there  was  a  yell  as 
from  a  band  of  routed  Sioux,  and  Phelps  and  Marsh 
were  struggling  in  an  effort  to  simultaneously  make 
exit  through  the  narrow  doorway. 

Watson  straightened,  and  for  a  second  looked  af 
ter  them  in  tolerant  surprise,  then  slowly  he  shifted 
about.  Tracy  was  no  longer  in  front  of  the  grate, 
but  with  teeth  set  and  breathing  hard  was  standing 
well  to  one  side,  his  hands  gripping  the  rounds  of 
the  chair  back.  Morley  Butler  too  had  risen  and  was 
staring  at  the  can  as  though  it  were  a  red  devil  ap 
proaching  at  top  speed.  Barry  alone,  his  face  very 
white,  was  sitting  as  at  first. 

The  doctor  hitched  up  his  sleeves  afresh. 

"  As  I  thought,"  he  remarked  laconically,  "  it  is 
good."  From  amid  the  crumbled  wrappings  he  with 
drew  a  stout  cord. 

"  Unfortunately  for  our  experiment,"  he  chatted 
on,  "  I  have  no  fuse,  but  I  think  this  will  do."  He 
stretched  the  twine  to  its  full  length,  and  taking  one 


The  Aftermath  75 

end  thrust  it  through  the  opening  far  into  the  can. 
The  other  free  end  he  left  dangling  over  the  edge  of 
the  table. 

"  Mr.  Tracy,''  he  requested  without  looking  up, 
"  will  you  oblige  me  with  a  match?  " 

There  was  no  response  and  after  a  moment  Wat 
son  straightened. 

"  Might  I  trouble  you  for  a  light,  please?  " 

Tracy  aroused,  almost  shamefacedly. 

"  Certainly.  I "  He  began  a  vague  search 

of  his  damp  pockets. 

"  Thank  you,  Barry."  The  doctor  struck  a  light, 
carefully  selecting  the  under  surface  of  the  table  that 
it  might  leave  no  scratch,  and  applied  the  blaze  to 
the  frayed  fuse  end.  It  lit  with  a  flame,  seemed  for 
an  instant  to  go  out,  then  burned  slowly  on.  For  per 
haps  a  minute  Watson  watched  it  with  folded  arms, 
then  he  drew  a  chair  into  the  circle. 

"  It  will  take  that  cord,  I  judge,  ten  minutes  to 
burn."  His  head  indicated  the  open  box  upon  the 
top  of  the  buffet.  "  May  I  take  the  liberty  of  taxing 
my  credit  with  the  club  to  the  extent  of  cigars  all 
around?  " 

As  before  the  request  was  directed  to  Tracy,  but 
it  was  Barry  who  nodded  permission,  and  when  a  mo 
ment  later  Watson  tendered  the  box  the  acceptance 
of  the  red-haired  man  was  as  automatic  as  though 
taking  place  in  a  dream. 

As  carefully  as  he  had  scratched  the  first  match 
the  doctor  lit  another  and,  sitting  down,  applied  it 


76  The  Dissolving  Circle 

to  the  tuck  of  his  cigar.  His  damp  trousers  bound 
at  the  knees  and,  loosening  them,  he  stretched  his 
long  legs  comfortably.  Minutes  passed  while  Barry 
from  his  corner  watched  intently  for  another  move; 
but  none  came,  nor  another  word.  Now  and  then, 
regularly  as  the  slow  swing  of  a  giant  pendulum,  a 
puff  of  smoke  lifted  above  the  bushy  head  and  van 
ished,  and  was  repeated.  That  was  all.  No  observer 
on  the  face  of  earth  could  have  mistaken  the  relent 
less  finality  of  that  inaction,  its  absolute  disregard  of 
denouement.  It  was  a  bluff,  to  be  sure,  but  a  bluff 
of  the  elements  with  life  itself  the  stake.  But  for 
that  flaming  red  canister  on  the  table  and  the  tiny 
dot  of  fire  eating  toward  it  inch  by  inch,  it  would 
have  been  histrionic.  As  it  was  it  froze  the  blood — 
and  made  it  boil. 

Almost  involuntarily  Barry  lit  his  own  cigar  and 
puffed  at  it  like  an  engine.  From  Watson  his  eyes 
went  to  Morley  Butler,  and  even  at  the  distance  he 
sat  he  saw  the  drops  of  perspiration  gathering  thick 
upon  the  other's  muddy  forehead ;  moved  on  to  Tracy 
and  stopped — stopped  with  a  suddenness  which  spoke 
surprise,  lingered  with  an  expression  akin  to  pity. 

Of  all  the  applied  phrases  generations  of  the  sons 
of  men  have  coined,  one  at  least  will  live  while 
human  nature  maintains.  Of  but  two  words,  it  em 
bodies  the  physical  opprobrium,  the  scalding  moral 
taunt  of  psychic  man.  In  its  fine  torture  it  is  unique, 
and  as  the  big  man's  eyes  halted  wonderingly  it  alone 
suggested  itself,  seemed  adequate  to  the  occasion. 


The  Aftermath  77 

Bluffer  of  his  fellow  men,  posing  cynic  of  all  things 
sacred,  indiscriminate  scatterer  of  challenges,  Nor 
man  Tracy  had  at  last  met  the  inevitable  denoue 
ment;  met  it  and  not  met  it,  and  therein  lay  the  trag 
edy,  the  fine  irony,  the  heartbreaking  confession;  for 
as  surely  as  darkness  follows  light  the  nerve  of  the 
man  was  weakening  under  the  test,  his  habitual  ef 
frontery  collapsing  like  a  cardboard  box  under  a  re 
lentless  hand.  Against  his  will,  his  fiercest  mental 
effort,  the  last  frantic  appeal  of  his  self-respect,  he 
was  undergoing  the  unspeakable  submission  of  body 
and  mind  absolute,  the  torture  which  flaunts  the 
throes  of  death.  He  was  admitting  to  himself  and 
to  the  world  physical  cowardice.  He  was  taking 
water! 

Instinctively  Barry,  the  spectator,  turned  away,  but 
something,  a  force  stronger  than  curiosity,  compelled 
him  to  look  back;  and  from  that  moment  to  the  end 
he  forgot  long  Watson,  forgot  perspiring  Butler,  for 
got  even  himself.  Many  plays  of  human  passion  he 
had  seen,  many  actors  the  world  lauds  great,  but  such 
a  play  with  such  an  aqtor  as  Norman  Tracy  at  that 
time,  never.  From  the  moment  when  Watson  had 
struck  flame  to  the  cord  fuse  five  minutes  had  passed, 
and  true  to  his  estimate  it  had  burned  halfway  up, 
had  all  but  reached  the  surface  of  the  table.  Deathly 
silent  as  the  room  itself,  insidious  but  inevitable  as 
the  approach  of  age,  it  advanced,  and  with  his  red 
face  and  redder  lashless  eyes,  Tracy's  glance  vibrated 
between  it  and  the  impassve  man  who  had  given  it 


78  The  Dissolving  Circle 

birth.  Conscious  that  he  was  being  watched,  he  had 
at  first  attempted  to  appear  unconcerned;  but  the 
farce  had  been  too  apparent  even  to  himself  and  he 
had  soon  desisted.  He  still  held  the  cigar  Watson 
had  given  him,  but  it  was  unlighted  and  chewed  rag 
ged  a  third  of  its  length.  As  at  first,  his  hands  yet  re 
mained  on  the  chair  back,  but  the  fingers  were  gripped 
until  the  nails  showed  like  rows  of  white  dots.  Save 
for  his  eyes  and  the  muscles  of  his  face  and  the 
throbbing  arteries  of  his  throat,  he  was  absolutely 
still;  but  they  were  enough,  more  than  enough,  to 
tell  the  tale  of  the  battle  raging  in  his  brain.  Long 
before,  the  first  kindly  period  of  dreamlike  unreality 
had  passed.  Plain  as  handwriting  two  passions 
struggled  for  mastery  now ;  a  blind,  unreasoning  love 
of  life  at  any  cost,  a  deadly  white  hot  hate  for  the 
man  who  had  arbitrarily  made  that  price  the  most 
humiliating  admission  known  to  man.  At  first  the 
contest  seemed  equal,  but  gradually  as  the  seconds 
dragged  into  minutes,  as  the  fuse  shortened  from  a 
foot  to  inches,  the  predominance  of  the  one  over  the 
other  became  distinctly  apparent.  One  by  one  the 
white  dots  of  the  finger  nails  grew  indistinct,  merged 
into  red.  The  tightened  muscles  of  the  jaws  re 
laxed,  the  straight,  closed  lips  parted  to  be  moistened. 
For  the  first  time  the  eyes  wandered  to  the  door  and 
returned.  The  end  was  at  hand. 

Meanwhile,  never  looking  around,  still  passively 
smoking,  Watson  stretched  indolently  in  his  chair. 
Had  he  once  glanced  up,  showed  a  single  emotion,  it 


The  Aftermath  79 

would  have  relieved  the  tension.  As  it  was,  the  si 
lence  and  the  inaction  were  unearthly.  At  last  even 
Barry's  cigar  had  gone  out  and  of  a  sudden  beyond 
every  other  impression  he  was  conscious  of  the  pul 
sations  of  his  own  arteries  ringing  in  his  ears.  His 
eyes  were  glued  to  the  tiny  speck  of  flame  with  an 
uncontrollable  fascination.  It  was  halfway  up  the 
side  of  the  can  now,  glowing  against  the  red  back 
ground  like  a  demon  eye.  Against  his  will,  discon 
nected,  long  forgotten  recollections  of  his  childhood, 
of  maturity,  went  hurtling  through  his  mind.  Ex 
periences 

Interrupting,  explosive  in  its  suddenness,  startling 
as  a  voice  from  the  grave,  the  chair  beneath  Tracy's 
hand  went  careening  to  the  floor.  A  curse,  involun 
tary,  unintelligible,  spat  like  a  bullet  through  the  si 
lence.  The  rush  of  a  man  blindly  running  and  a 
second  later  of  another  equally  frantic  following 
sounded  through  the  room.  There  was  an  instant's 
halt,  a  clatter  of  falling  glass,  and  Barry  was  con 
scious  that  he  and  that  impassive,  lounging  figure 
were  alone.  A  moment  longer  he  sat  motionless,  ad 
justing  himself  mentally  to  the  new  condition,  from 
the  realms  of  fantasy  returning  to  the  dominion  of 
reality;  then,  almost  fearing  to  look,  his  eye  caught 
the  dot  of  fire  and  the  fuse  above.  There  was  still 
an  inch  unconsumed,  and  with  a  sudden  reactory  rush 
of  blood  which  tingled  to  the  very  roots  of  his  hair,  he 
arose  steadily,  and  between  thumb  and  finger  pinched 
the  blaze  dead.  Involuntarily  he  drew  a  long  breath, 


80  The  Dissolving  Circle 

until  the  last  cells  of  his  lungs  were  stretched  to 
bursting.  Equally  involuntarily  he  smiled. 

A  moment  he  stood  so,  then  the  smile  vanished, 
and  going  back  he  shifted  his  seat  until  he  looked  the 
other  man  fair  in  the  face.  A  complex  exaltation 
which  he  made  no  effort  to  analyse  dominated  him, 
compelled  relief  in  speech. 

"  Bruce  Watson,"  he  said,  and  admiration  primi 
tive,  spontaneous,  rang  unrepressed  in  his  voice, 
"  Bruce  Watson,  I  like  you." 


Chapter  VII 

A    GLIMPSE    OF   THE    PROBLEM 

FOR  so  long  that  Barry  coloured  and  fidgeted  in  his 
seat,  Watson  made  no  response;  then  returning  from 
an  aimless  inspection  of  the  room  the  big  man  found 
the  wide-set  blue  eyes  observing  him  steadily,  analyti 
cally.  Involuntarily  he  flushed  more  than  before  at 
memory  of  the  utter  boyishness  of  the  outbreak;  but 
Watson  only  smiled. 

"  Pardon  me,"  he  apologised,  "  if  I  was  rude,  but 
you  took  me  rather  by  surprise.  I've  had  men  tell 
me — almost  everything;  but  that  they  liked  me  "* — •. 
again  the  smile — "  the  admission  was  unique." 

"And  therefore  you  doubted  the  statement?" 

"  No,  I  repeat,  I  was  merely — curious  to  know 
what  manner  of  man  could  feel  that  way." 

Barry's  round  face  broadened. 

"  No  doubt  you  came  to  a  speedy  decision?  " 

Watson  hesitated;  then  he  rose  and  shook  his  damp 
clothes. 

"  I  reserved  verdict."  He  glanced  from  his 
stockinged  feet  to  the  big  clock  on  the  wall. 

"  Shall  we  adjourn?  I  hardly  see  how  we  can 
make  any  further  addition  to  our  record  of  imbecility 
to-night." 

Barry  too  arose,  but  with  distinct  disinclination, 
and  lit  a  fresh  cigar. 

81 


82  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  If  you  wish,  go  ahead.  I  for  one,  however, 
could  no  more  go  to  sleep  than  I  could  walk  a  tight 
wire."  He  laughed  shortly.  "  I've  been  restless  as 
a  fish  all  day,  and  this  affair  to-night,  to  say  the  least, 
hasn't  helped  matters.  I  think  I'll  stay  and  smoke 
awhile." 

Watson  paused. 

"  Do  I  gather  that  it  would  add  to  your  happiness 
if  I  remained  and  kept  you  company?  " 

"  Yes,  frankly,  it  would.  I'm  of  the  modern  type, 
gregarious,  and  just  now  the  mood  is  particularly 
strong."  Of  a  sudden  he  remembered.  "  But  par 
don  me.  You  wish  to  get  out  of  those  wet  clothes." 

"  It's  entirely  immaterial."  Watson  had  returned 
to  his  former  place.  "  Don't  let  that  worry  you  in 
the  least." 

"  But  it  does.  For  the  instant  I  had  forgotten. 
You'll  catch  your  death  of  cold." 

Watson  smiled  meditatively. 

"  I  hardly  think  so.  If  I  had  a  ten-dollar  note 
for  every  time  I've  gone  soaked  all  day  and  had  my 
outfit  dry  on  my  back  at  the  end  I'd  be  wealthier 
than  I  am  now.  I'll  smoke,  however,  if  you  please." 

"  Certainly.  What,  by  the  way,  were  you  doing, 
sailing?" 

"  Hardly."  Again  the  reminiscent  smile.  "  The 
largest  body  of  water  I  ever  saw  was  Lake  Michigan. 
Rain  and  sleet  and  snow,  however,  are  equally  wet 
when  they  soak  in." 

Barry  wished  to  follow  the  lead,  but  something  in 


A  Glimpse  of  the  Problem  83 

the  other's  manner  warned  him  that  the  personal  was 
at  an  end.  He  smoked  a  moment  in  silence  and  the 
interrupted  mood  returned. 

"  Do  you  know,"  he  broke  out  at  last,  "  I  don't  be 
lieve  I'll  ever  understand  the  people  of  Sioux  Falls. 
I've  been  here  now  several  months,  and  I  don't  know 
a  single  person  with  whom  to  talk.  If  one  wishes 
to  drink  or  gamble,  there  are  plenty;  but  for  other 
than  that  " — his  gesture  was  eloquent — "  I'm  posi 
tively  hungry." 

Watson  made  no  comment. 

"  I  think  I  shall  have  to  take  the  conventional 
method  and  advertise  my  want,"  completed  Barry 
with  a  laugh.  % 

The  doctor  observed  the  half-inch  of  ash  before 
his  eye  judiciously. 

"  Did  it  never  occur  to  you  that  perhaps  that  was 
already  the  cause  of  your  trouble,  that  you  were  too 
thoroughly  advertised  ?  "./ 

Barry  sobered. 

"You  mean >• 

"  In  plain  English  that  you  don't  have  access  to  the 
people  who  are  really  worth  while." 

"  In  other  words,  they  avoid  me,  my  class?  " 

"  Ignore  would,  I  think,  be  a  better  word." 

Involuntarily  Barry  coloured. 

"  I'll  have  to  admit  it  has.  I'm  not  blind."  He 
flung  one  leg  over  the  other  explosively.  "  I'll  ad 
mit  further  ,that  I  resent  it.  This  thing  of  condemn 
ing  without  proof  isn't  even  legal  justice." 


84  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  But  upon  a  personal  admission " 

Barry  straightened  chillily. 

"  I  don't  think  I  understand." 

"  The  principle  is  simple  enough,  I'm  sure."  The 
voice  was  as  impersonal  as  a  weather  report.  "  Of 
necessity  society  at  large  accepts  an  individual's  own 
testimony  of  self  as  truth,  and  the  mere  fact  of 
a — transient's  presence  here  is  rather  a  fatal  admis 


sion." 


"  I  suppose  I'm  dense,  but  I  still  fail  to  under 
stand." 

"  To  be  explicit,  then,  it  admits  first  of  all  an  elas 
ticity  of  conscience  concerning  the  obligation  of  an 
oath." 

"  You  mean  to  imply "  Barry  paused,  stif- 

fer  than  before. 

"  Nothing.  I  was  merely  stating  a  self-evident 
fact.  Except  for  so  small  a  proportion  that  they 
only  prove  the  rule,  the — transient  element  de 
liberately  swear  to  an  untruth  in  attaining  resi 
dence." 

"  In  plain  Anglo-Saxon  again,"  the  big  man  was 
very  white  and  the  words  came  slowly,  "  you  charge 
me  with  being  a  deliberate  perjurer." 

Watson  blew  a  cloud  of  smoke  impassively. 

"  I  neither  approve  nor  condemn.  One  cannot 
avoid  observing." 

For  a  moment  Barry  did  not  move,  then  with  an 
effort  he  settled  back  into  his  seat. 

"  In  speaking  of  admissions,  you  used  the  plural. 


A  Glimpse  of  the  Problem  85 

What  other  delinquencies,  please,  does  our  coming 
advertise?  " 

Watson  ignored  the  satire. 

"  You  really  wish  me  to  further  catalogue  the  ob 
vious?" 

"  Yes." 

"  Second,  then,  a  transient's  presence  admits  one 
of  two  things :  moral  cowardice  or  domestic  fault." 

"  Once  more  I'll  have  to  ask  you  to  elaborate." 

The  lids  over  the  wide-set  eyes  tightened  just  a 
shade. 

"  With  pleasure.  You'll  agree  with  me  that  when 
one's  conscience  is  clear  no  further  vindication  is  nec 
essary?  " 

Barry  squirmed  uncomfortably. 

"  Perhaps.     For  the  sake  of  argument,  yes." 

"  And  that  if  innocent  and  sufficiently  sinned 
against,  relief  can  be  secured  at  home?" 

"  All  of  which  I  presume  is  evidence  of  moral 
cowardice !  " 

"  I  repeat,  I'm  merely  a  disinterested  observer,  not 
a  judge." 

With  an  effort  Barry  composed  himself  once  more. 

"And  as  to — domestic  fault?"  The  words  did 
not  come  easily. 

"  A  divorce  presupposes  a  marital  misunderstand 
ing,  doesn't  it?  " 

"  Assuredly." 

"  And  to  misunderstand  implies  two  agents?  " 

"  Yes." 


86  The  Dissolving  Circle 

The  admissions  were  coming  shorter  and  shorter, 
and  the  wrinkles  about  Watson's  eyes  tightened  sym 
pathetically. 

"  Did  you  ever,  whether  the  occasion  was  a  fist 
fight  in  the  street  or  a  nice  bout  with  razor-edged 
tongues  in  a  parlour,  know  an  instance  where  one 
opponent  was  absolutely  innocent,  wholly  without 
guile?" 

"  For  the  third  time,  to  recapitulate,  I'm  either  a 
moral  coward  or — have  sinned  in  my  home  life?  " 

Watson  said  nothing. 

"  Answer  me,  please." 

The  long  doctor,  aroused,  looked  the  other 
squarely  in  the  eyes. 

"  If  you  insist  on  making  a  generalisation  personal, 
yes." 

For  a  half  minute  Barry  returned  the  look. 

"  And  this  is  why  I've  found  the  people  here  worth 
while — elusive,  why  you  yourself  persist  in  holding 
me  at  arm's  length?  " 

Again  Watson  said  nothing. 

Once  more  Barry's  cigar  had  gone  dead  and  he  lit 
it  irritably.  At  the  first  puff,  however,  he  flung  the 
stub  into  the  grate  and,  rising,  strode  back  and  forth 
across  the  floor  with  restless  regularity.  At  last  he 
stopped. 

"  Watson,"  he  said  recklessly,  "  between  you  and 
me  I'm  getting  about  to  the  end  of  my  rope  in  the 
sort  of  life  I'm  leading  here.  I'm  not  used  to  doing 
nothing.  It  gives  one  too  much  time  to  think, 


A  Glimpse  of  the  Problem  87 

and  thought  is — fatal.  I'm  losing  my  self-respect 
daily." 

The  long  listener  puffed  impassively. 

"  At  first,"  rushed  on  the  voice,  "  I  thought  it  was 
merely  physical  rebellion  I  felt,  and  I  rather  envied 
the  men  I  saw,  they  all  seemed  so  self-sufficiently  oc 
cupied.  When  later  I  found  out,  as  you  say,  that 
these  same  people — ignored  me,  I  became  a  trifle 
ironic.  They  seemed  so  wrapped  up  in  their  petty 
ambition  of  money-grubbing,  so  oblivious  of  the  fact 
that  real  work  is  its  own  justification,  so  apathetic,  ap 
parently,  to  any  sound  save  the  ring  of  a  dollar. 
Then  one  day,  about  a  week  ago  it  was,  by  chance  I 
scratched  a  man  I  thought  the  dullest  grubber  of  the 
herd,  and  all  at  once  there  popped  out  a  scheme  for 
making  the  little  river  under  our  noses  here  a  cease 
less  waterpower — by  damming  or  something  at  its 
source — whose  audacity  fairly  took  my  breath  away. 
Then  in  a  flash  I  saw  light;  but  before  I  could  draw 
him  out  he'd  shut  up  again  like  a  clam  when  a  small 
boy  pokes  it  with  a  stick,  and  I  was  out  on  the  street 
adjusting  my  point  of  view  to  the  revelation.  That's 
when  I  really  began  to  think,  when  I  began  to  catch 
the  perspective  of  your  class  for  me,  for  my  class. 
It's  not  been  pleasant  to  consider." 

Still  Watson  puffed  on,  and  Barry  observed  him 
narrowly. 

"  I'll  admit  that  you  people  are  broad  in  your  way, 
broad  as  the  prairies  I  came  through  to  get  here; 
but  you're  narrow  too.  You  can't  differentiate  an 


88  The  Dissolving  Circle 

individual  from  a  class,  can't  see  the  exception.  Most 
of  all,  can't  recognise  the  extenuation." 

Watson's  blue  eyes  were  fixed  on  the  blank  wall 
opposite,  but  a  smile  lingered  in  their  depths.  Barry 
caught  the  look  and  started  walking  again. 

"  I  don't  pretend  that  I'm  arguing  in  the  abstract, 
nor  will  I  attempt  to  justify  the  motives  of  the  major 
ity  who  come  here,  but  I  do  object  to  being  classed 
with  the  herd,  branded  unclean  without  cause."  He 
stopped  belligerently.  "  Do  you  blame  me?  " 

Watson  flicked  a  bit  of  ash  from  his  shirt  sleeve 
leisurely. 

"  Certainly  one  resents  disapproval  without  cause." 

"  You  won't  admit,  though,  that  there's  no  case 
against  me,"  quickly;  "  the  possibility  of  an  extenua 
tion?" 

"  Once  more  I  repeat,  I'm  not  sitting  in  judgment." 

"  As  purely  an  observer,  then?  " 

One  of  Watson's  long  legs  crossed  over  the  other 
slowly. 

*'  As  an  observer  I  see  you  here  in  the  flesh.  Being 
here  the  admission  of  one  presence  is  difficult  to  dis 
tinguish  from  that  of  another.  I  see  no  logic  which 
refutes  the  axiom  that  if  a  man  swears  to  a  falsehood 
he  perjures  himself;  that  a  disagreement  necessitates 
two  agents."  He  arose  and  lit  a  fresh  cigar  impar 
tially.  "  Purely  as  an  observer  I  might  add  that 
the  most  fatal  admission  of  all  I  ignored."  He  sat 
down  again.  "  It's  rather  psychic  than  moral,  any 
way,  and  becomes  an  admission  simply  through  prec- 


A  Glimpse  of  the  Problem  89 

edent.  It's  the  real  reason  beneath  the  ostensible  rea 
son.  The  call  of  a  new  love  drowning  out  the  voice 
of  the  old." 

For  a  half  minute  Barry  said  nothing,  but  his  rest 
less  stride  back  and  forth,  back  and  forth,  was  elo 
quent. 

"  God,  you're  hard  on  me!  "  he  voiced  then;  but 
there  was  no  reply  and  he  strode  on.  At  last  he 
flung  himself  into  his  old  seat.  "  Moreover,  you 
ignore  an  extenuation  absolutely."  It  was  almost  a 
plea. 

"  A  mere  observer  has  nothing  to  do  with  extenua 
tion." 

'*  If  you'd  ever  had  a  love  or  a  tragedy  in  your  own 
life,"  hotly,  "  you'd  never  say  that.  You  couldn't. 
You'd  justify — anything !  " 

The  cigar  left  the  doctor's  lips  and  for  a  moment 
he  was  still  as  a  figure  in  clay;  then  it  returned  and 
a  ring  of  smoke  lifted  toward  the  ceiling.  For  an 
other  moment  Barry  too  was  silent,  then  a  plump 
hand  made  an  outward  motion  of  abandon. 

"  Supposing,"  he  said  intensely,  "  that  you  had 
loved  a  woman  with  the  best  that  was  in  you,  had 
lived  for  her,  slaved  day  and  night  to  give  her  the 
things  women  demand,  denied " 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,"  the  wide-set  eyes  were  of  a 
sudden  looking  the  speaker  through  and  through, 
"  but  I'm  not  a  confessor." 

"  No,"  quickly,  "  but  you're  a  man.  I  shall  not 
regret." 


90  The  Dissolving  Circle 

The  blue  eyes  returned  to  the  wall. 

"  Supposing,  I  say,  that  you  had  done  these  things, 
had  divided  your  life  absolutely  between  your  work 
and  your  home;  had  never  had  a  suspicion  that  any 
thing  was  wrong,  and  then  of  a  sudden  had  found  out 
that  for  months  you  had  been  the  merest  dupe  that — 
God !  it  pollutes  one's  mouth  to  say  it — that  you  were 
a  husband  only  in  name  I  Wouldn't  you  say  then  that 
justified — anything?  " 

For  a  moment  Watson  did  not  answer  and  Barry 
waited,  breathing  hard. 

"  Pardon  me,"  even  yet  the  voice  was  impersonal, 
non-committal.  "  Pardon  me  if  I  answer  a  question 
with  a  question.  Is  there  no  avenue  of  relief,  no 
scheme  of  justice,  in  your  own  State?  " 

"  Certainly;  but  the  added  insult  to  injury  of  pub 
licity,  the  dragging  of  your  name  and  private  life 

through  the  filth  of  the  news  column The 

thought  even  is  intolerable !  " 

The  doctor's  bushy  head  shifted  very  slightly. 
Evidently  the  light  hurt  his  eyes. 

u  You  intimate  that  the  divorce  court  was  the  only 
remedy.  Did  readjustment  in  private  never  suggest 
itself?" 

For  a  moment  Barry  stared;  then  he  laughed  un 
musically. 

"  You  make  the  assurance  more  complete  that  your 
own  life  has  been  without  a  love  or  a  tragedy,"  he 
satirised. 

Puff,  puff,  went  twin  clouds  of  blue  over  Wat- 


A  Glimpse  of  the  Problem  91, 

son's  head.  He  had  not  smoked  before  for  min 
utes. 

"  As  an  observer,"  he  ignored,  "  I  presume  it  is 
permissible  to  ask  if  Mrs.  Barry  knows  you  are 
here?" 

The  short,  hard  laugh  was  repeated. 

"  Most  assuredly  she  does." 

"And  she  approved  of  your  coming?" 

Of  a  sudden  the  big  man's  face  sobered,  tightened, 
whitened. 

"  No,  no,"  he  said.  "  No.  I— I  don't  like  to 
think  of  it." 

"  She  was  defiant,  perhaps,  shameless,  heaped  ac 
cusation  on  accusation?  "  The  steady  voice  was  re 
lentless. 

"No,  God,  no!"  Barry's  hand  swept  over  his 
forehead.  "  She  denied  nothing,  accused  no  one,  ad 
mitted  everything.  That  was  the  worst — admitted 
everything!  " 

"  I  see."  A  pause.  "  I  see.  There  was  not  the 
slightest  intimation  of  why  you  and  she  should  have 
grown  apart,  why  another  should  have  crept  into  your 
place?" 

"  No  explanation  was  possible,"  hotly.  "  I  tell 
you  I  slaved  like  a  dog  to  keep  her  in  the  fashion,  in 
society.  I  was  a  poor,  blind  fool !  " 

Watson  ignored  the  outburst. 

"  Mrs.  Barry  had  always  had  a  home  interest,  I 
suppose;  children,  perhaps?  " 

"No,  thank  God!" 


92  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  But  you  two  were  very  much  together;  at  meals, 
evenings,  Sundays,  holidays?" 

"  No,"  bitterly  again.  "  I  repeat,  I  had  my  work, 
my  slavery  for  her  royal  amusement.  I  had  little 
time  for  anything  else." 

uAt  least,  though,  the  work  itself  was  a  mutual 
interest;  was  talked  over  together,  dreamed  over  in 
common ?  " 

The  voice  became  silent,  the  sentence  incomplete. 
No  need  to  carry  further  the  suggestion  now.  At  last 
the  big  man  understood,  understood  only  too  well. 
All  at  once,  like  an  army  of  ghosts,  a  swarm  of 
hitherto  meaningless  recollections,  scenes,  episodes, 
flashed  through  his  brain;  in  mocking  derision  jeered 
at  his  egotism,  his  blindness.  Involuntarily  again  he 
passed  his  hand  over  his  forehead.  Drops  of  sweat 
had  gathered  thick  and  his  collar  choked  him.  He 
felt  he  could  not  be  still  and,  rising,  he  swung  back 
and  forth  like  an  automaton.  Two  minutes  passed. 

"  Watson,"  it  was  a  man  to  man  plea,  a  manly 
plea,  "  you  really  believe  that  was  the  cause  of  her — 
doing  as  she  has  done,  that  she  did  not  understand 
me  or  my  motive,  that  she  was  lonely?  " 

The  long  listener  was  still  turned  away  in  silence. 

"  And,"  the  speaker  rushed  on,  "  that  there  is  a 
possibility  of  our  getting  together  even  yet,  of  for- 
ge.tting  the  past !  " 

"  I  think,"  evenly,  "  she  was  lonesome,  desperately 
alone." 

"  Yes,  yes,  I  remember  she  said  that  now,  the  very 


A  Glimpse  of  the  Problem  93 

words,  *  desperately  alone  ' ;  but  " — the  floor  echoed 
afresh  under  the  big  man's  tread — "  but  that  she 
should  so  forget  herself,  did  not  at  least  appeal  first  to 

me "  He  sat  down  heavily  and  dropped  his 

face  into  his  hands.  "  No,  I  can't  forget  that.  I 
never  could  forget  it !  " 

In  silence  Watson  arose  and  stood,  his  hands  folded 
behind  him,  before  the  grate. 

"Never?"  he  interrogated.  "That's  a  long 
time,  a  very  long  time — when  you  love  her." 

Barry  raised  his  face  slowly,  dazedly. 

"  I  repeat,  when  you  love  her,"  said  Watson 
quietly. 

The  big  man  drew  in  a  long  breath  slowly.  His 
shoulders  squared,  his  eyes  brightened.  He  stood 
up. 

"  Wafson,"  he  voiced  intensely,  "  as  man  to  man, 
could  you  in  my  place  do  what  you  suggest;  would 
you?" 

The  long  figure  did  not  stir. 

"  No  man  knows  what  he  would  do  under  certain 
circumstances  until  they  confront  him.  The  ques 
tion  is  worse  than  useless." 

"  But  you  have  an  intuition,  a  belief?  You  must 
have!"  ' 

"  I  believe  if  I  were  you  I  could  and  would — at 
least  forgive." 

The  blood  was  dinning  at  the  ears  of  Irving  Barry. 
He  clasped  his  hands  to  prevent  doing  fantastic 
things. 


94  -The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  And  the  other  man,  the  one  who  with  wide-open 
eyes " 

"  Don't  ask  me  that,  please." 

A  bull  in  a  china  shop,  Barry  stumbled  on. 

"  But  I  do  ask  you.     It's  vital!  " 

For  the  first  time  a  trace  of  colour  showed  on 
Watson's  thin  cheeks,  at  his  temples.  Sympatheti 
cally  the  great  arteries  of  his  throat  swelled, 
throbbed;  throbbed  almost  to  bursting. 

"  Strange  to  say,  Mr.  Barry,"  the  voice  was  slow 
and  steady,  but  its  ice-cold  relentlessness  fairly  froze 
itself  into  the  listener's  memory,  "  strange  to  say,  I  am 
human.  I  repeat  I  don't  know  what  I  would  do; 
but  I  think,  I  think,  if  that  other  man  ever  showed 
me  his  face  I  would — strangle  him.  Yes,  I  think  I 
would  strangle  him." 

All  about  in  an  avalanche  the  china  was  crashing, 
and  too  late  Barry  realised  what  he  had  done.  He 
stepped  back,  his  stumbling  tongue  thickened. 

"  Watson,"  haltingly,  contritely,  "  I  beg  your  par 
don — I  never  dreamed " 

As  swiftly  as  had  come  the  previous  transformation 
the  doctor  was  himself  again,  loose  of  joint,  non 
committal,  impassive. 

"  Forget  it,  then,"  unemotionally.  He  put  out  the 
light  and  started  for  the  door.  "  Come  on,  it's  nearly 
morning." 

Barry  drew  on  his  coat  in  the  half-darkness  of  the 
hall.  Of  a  sudden  he  stopped. 

"  You're  forgetting  your  keys,"  he  reminded. 


A  Glimpse  of  the  Problem  95 

The  long  figure  leading  the  way  likewise  halted, 
looked  back.  From  smoothness  the  angles  of  his 
eyes  tightened,  contracted  Into  wrinkles,  deepened, 
widened,  spread  until  the  lips  parted  in  the  most 
frankly  amused,  the  most  tolerantly  sarcastic  of 
smiles.  He  turned  again  down  the  hallway. 

"  You  are  labouring  under  a  delusion,  sir,"  he 
said.  "  I  did  not  forget." 


Chapter  VIII 

EULA    FELKNER 

"  YES,  sir;  "  the  voice  was  unemotional  as  the  clatter 
of  small  change  on  a  pine  counter.  "  Yes,  sir,  you 
were  informed  correctly.  Won't  you  step  inside, 
sir?" 

Tracy  paused  for  a  last  inspection  of  the  exterior 
of  the  house.  It  was  decidedly  large,  indifferently  well 
kept,  set  well  back  from  the  street,  pleasantly  incon 
spicuous.  Of  pretentious  design,  its  present  weather- 
faded  gentility  marked  it  obviously  as  a  structure  with 
a  past;  suggested  as  the  deep  unterraced  cut  in  the 
street  before  it,  an  ambition  dead,  unrealised,  almost 
forgotten.  Evidently  the  inspection  was  satisfac 
tory,  for  the  heavy,  multipaned  door  closed  behind 
him. 

"  This  way,  sir,  and  it's  fortunate  that  you  came 
to-day.  I've  just  two  rooms  vacant,  the  best  in  the 
house — and  those  only  since  this  morning."  They  had 
climbed  the  wide  stairs  and  reached  the  hallway  of 
the  second  floor.  A  maid  with  an  abbreviated  apron 
and  a  broom  stepped  obsequiously  aside  to  let  them 
pass,  but  did  not  look  up.  "  The  baggage,  as  you 
see,  is  still  here,  but  will  be  taken  to  the  noon  *  Mil 
waukee.'  The  house,"  the  first  trace  of  modulation 
crept  into  the  voice,  "  is  in  great  demand,  sir." 

96 


Eula  Felkner  97 

Tracy  frowned  slightly,  but  said  nothing. 

"  You  will  pardon,  please,  the  disorder."  The 
landlady  had  thrown  open  a  door  at  the  extreme  end 
of  the  hall  and  paused  for  the  other  to  enter.  "  Pack 
ing  is  of  necessity  mussy,  sir." 

The  man  stepped  inside  and,  as  from  the  exterior, 
inspected  the  place  swiftly,  critically.  There  was  a 
meaning  pause. 

"  The  other  room  connects  also  with  the  hall,  as 
you  doubtless  noticed,"  the  understanding  was  unemo 
tionally  perfect,  "  and  with  this  by  folding  doors." 
She  illustrated.  "  The  furnishings  I  can  rearrange 
at  your  suggestion." 

The  second  room  was  partially  darkened  and, 
throwing  up  a  shade,  Tracy  glanced  out.  As  the 
woman  had  said,  it  was  the  most  desirable  suite  in 
the  house,  facing  the  street,  each  room  large,  and  to 
gether  occupying  the  entire  left  wing.  Again  his  in 
spection  indicated  approval,  and  he  returned  to  the 
hallway  and  glanced  keenly  down  its  length. 

u  That  room,"  he  indicated  the  adjoining  door, 
"  is  occupied,  I  suppose?" 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  If  I  came  here  I  should  wish  it  vacated.  I 
might  not  care  to  use  it  myself,  but  I  would  wish  it 
vacant." 

The  woman  showed  no  surprise. 

"  I  think  it  could  be  arranged,  sir." 

Tracy  turned  to  re-enter. 

"  I  could  secure  board  here,  I  presume?  " 


98  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  Yes,  sir,  either  at  the  common  table  or  in  pri 


vate." 


"  I  would  wish  it  private. " 

"  Yes,  sir." 

But  one  other  consideration  remained,  and  select 
ing  a  chair  in  the  first  room  Tracy  sat  down,  his 
beaver  in  his  lap.  Critically  as  he  had  inspected  the 
house  without  and  within,  as  impersonally,  he  looked 
the  landlady  herself  from  head  to  foot.  A  large- 
framed  woman  he  saw,  with  a  plenty,  a  superabun 
dance  of  flesh.  Broad  hips  and  ample  bust  gave  a 
suggestion  of  motherliness  which  her  sharp  grey  eyes 
belied.  Thin  hair,  but  emphasising  the  obvious  fal 
sity  of  a  switch  beneath,  told  of  middle  age.  A 
double  chin  did  its  best,  but  failed  dismally,  to  soften 
the  effect  of  a  mouth  which  closed  straight  as  a  hori 
zontal  line.  At  that  mouth  Tracy  paused  satisfied. 
Gossip  does  not  leak  through  an  aperture  such  as 
that. 

"  I  think  the  place  will  suit,"  he  said. 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  So  far  as  I  see,  the  furnishings  will  be  all  right 
as  they  are.  If  I  find  otherwise  I  will  suggest  altera 
tion  later." 

"  Very  well,  sir,"  again. 

Tracy  hesitated  a  moment. 

"  My — sister,  who  is  to  occupy  one  of  the  rooms, 
I  expect  this  morning.  Could  you  arrange  to  have 
things  ready  by  about  noon?  " 

There  was  a  pause  but  when,  a  shade  suspiciously, 


Eula  Felkner  99 

Tracy  glanced  up,  the  landlady  was  innocently  tuck 
ing  away  a  handkerchief. 

"  Pardon  me,"  she  excused,  "  these  sudden  changes 
are  very  bad  for  colds.  As  to  the  rooms,  sir,  I  will 
put  them  in  order  at  once.  By  an  odd  coincidence," 
obviously  it  was  mere  chance  that  the  sharp  grey  eyes 
rested  on  the  baggage  in  the  hall,  "  it  is  a  gentleman 
and  his  sister  who  are  just  leaving.  The  work  will 
be  easier  on  that  account,  sir." 

Again  Tracy  frowned,  more  prodigiously  than  be 
fore.  For  some  reason  he  was  not  so  sure  of  that 
horizontal  mouth  line. 

"  I'm  not  in  the  least  interested  in  the  identity  of 
my  predecessors,"  he  commented  frostily.  "  What 
I  wish  is  that  the  place  shall  fulfil  certain  require 
ments  while  I'm  here.  First  of  all " — the  chin  was 
in  the  air  now,  the  eyelids  half  closed — "  there  must 
be  perfect  quiet  in  this  wing.  My  sister  is  quite 
nervous,  in  fact,  I'm  bringing  her  here  for  a  change 
of  scene  and  climate,  and  must  not  be  annoyed  or 
disturbed.  This  is  imperative." 

"  Quite  right,  sir."  Like  those  of  Tracy  him 
self,  the  keen  grey  eyes  were  not  so  wide  open  as  at 
first;  but  otherwise  there  was  no  change.  "I  will 
bear  in  mind  constantly  the  lady's  delicate  nerves, 


sir." 


Again  the  man's  thin  eyebrows  met,  but  there 
seemed  nothing  tangible  at  which  to  take  exception 
and  he  arose  with  dignity. 

"  Very  well.     I  think  we  understand  each  other, 


ioo  The  Dissolving  Circle 

then."  He  was  halfway  to  the  door.  "  I  trust  you 
will  not  disappoint  me." 

"  No,  sir."  The  suggestion  of  clattering  small 
change  was  again  prominent,  protrusive.  "  I  shall 
be  quite  ready.  The  terms " 

"  Any  you  wish  to  make."  Tracy  had  paused  im 
patiently.  "  I  have  ceased  to  expect  something  for 
nothing — especially  in  Sioux  Falls."  He  moved 
on. 

Only  the  woman's  eyes  followed  him. 

"  It  is  my  custom " 

Tracy  wheeled  angrily;  but  his  hand  was  searching 
for  his  wallet. 

"  Gad,"  he  emphasised,  "  you — sharks  here 
wouldn't  trust  a  Rothschild  for  a  loaf  of  bread."  He 
counted  out  five  yellow-backed  notes  swiftly  and  ex 
tended  them  with  a  scowl.  "  Take  that  on  account. 
The  receipt  you  may  leave  in  the  room;  "  and  with 
out  a  backward  glance  he  strode  down  the  stairs. 

Sioux  Falls  is  the  terminus  of  the  Rock  Island 
Railway,  and  as  the  long  Chicago  train  pulled  slowly 
into  the  station  there  was  a  sudden  rush  of  activity 
which  belied  the  size  of  the  city.  They  were  very 
late  and  with  visions  of  broken  engagements  and  be 
lated  lunches  everyone  was  in  a  hurry.  From  his 
place  at  the  rear  before  the  exit  of  the  single  Pullman, 
Norman  Tracy  watched  the  steady  outpour  of  hu 
manity  with  an  impatience  his  looks  did  not  indicate. 
A  small,  black  Havana,  unlighted,  was  between  his 


Eula  Felkner  101 

teeth,  and  as  at  last  the  flow  slackened  he  bit  at  it 
viciously  and  glanced  ahead  at  the  day  coach  with 
distinct  perplexity.  Was  it  probable He  de 
cided  not,  and  his  glance  returned.  As  it  did  so,  to 
the  intense  wonder  and  gratification  of  a  small  nearby 
loafer,  the  cigar  was  flung  to  the  pavement  and,  an 
infrequent  smile  lighting  his  pitted  face,  the  man 
stepped  forward  with  almost  boyish  eagerness.  A 
daintily  tailored  little  woman  in  brown  and  furs  had 
appeared  in  the  vestibule  and  was  glancing  uncer 
tainly,  almost  timidly,  about  the  crowded  platform. 
Her  veil  was  lifted  and  the  dark  oval  face  looked 
tired  and  not  a  little  irresolute.  As  Tracy,  crowding 
the  porter  loftily  aside,  appeared,  she  glanced  down 
and  a  smile  of  mingled  relief  and  of  pleasure  flashed 
upon  him  like  a  sunburst  from  out  a  cloud. 

"  Oh,  Norman,"  she  voiced  gratefully,  as  their 
hands  touched,  "  I  was  so  afraid " 

"  Never  mind,  little  woman,  never  mind,"  still 
smiling  he  read  the  look  in  the  depths  of  the  dark 
eyes,  "  I  understand."  With  quiet  insistence  he  led 
the  way  to  the  other  end  of  the  platform ;  for  with  his 
silk  hat  he  was  a  prominent  figure,  and  more  than 
one  spectator  was  distinctly  interested.  '*  It's  all  right. 
Our  carriage  is  waiting. 

"  You  look  dead  tired,"  he  continued  solicitously  as 
inside  the  cab  they  were  rattling  over  the  granite  pave 
ment,  "  and  I'm  going  to  be  real  stern  with  you.  Not 
a  word,  even  of  gossip,  will  I  permit  until  after  lunch. 
Then" — of  a  sudden  the  sentence  paused,  and  lean- 


IO2  The  Dissolving  Circle 

ing  forward  he  took  one  of  the  daintily  gloved  hands 
between  his  own,  "  then  " — a  moisture  crept  into  his 
eyes — "  you  don't  know  how  I've  wanted  you,  Eula; 
how  lonely  I've  been  without  you !  " 

Instinctively  sympathetic,  real  tears  fountained  into 
the  girl's  brown  eyes.  Her  lip  trembled. 

u  There,  there,"  caressed  the  man  quickly,  "  see 
what  I've  done;  and  when  I  was  so  happy,  too! 
Not  a  word  from  you  till  after  lunch;  not  a  word. 
It'll  only  be  a  few  minutes  now.  Your  house  is  al 
most  downtown.  I  think  you'll  like  it."  The  hack 
stopped  and,  swinging  open  the  door  he  sprang  out 
exuberantly.  "  Here  we  are  now,  up  the  face  of  this 
mountain."  He  tossed  a  dollar  to  the  waiting  cabby 
and  with  an  air  of  complete  proprietorship  took  the 
girl's  passive  arm  buoyantly  and  assisted  her  unneces 
sarily  up  the  flight  of  steps  to  the  level  of  the  house. 

The  landlady  in  person  answered  his  ring.  Since 
the  early  morning  she  had  curled  her  tiny  knot  of 
hair  and  apparently  moulded  herself  fluid  hot  into  a 
pale  green  waist.  She  extended  a  pair  of  latchkeys 
perfunctorily. 

"  I  neglected  to  give  them  to  you  this  morning, 
sir,"  she  explained. 

"  Thanks,"  accepted  Tracy.  "  Eula,"  loosing  his 
companion's  arm  reluctantly,  "  this  is  Mrs.  Waldow, 
your  housekeeper  and  chief  of  staff."  He  looked 
over  the  girl's  head  meaningly.  "  You'll  find  her 
very  ready  to  accommodate,  I'm  sure." 

The  landlady  acknowledged  the  introduction  with 


Eula  Felkner  103 

the  faintest  of  inclinations,  but  Eula  Felkner  ex 
tended  her  hand  cordially. 

"  I  do  hope  we'll  like  each  other,"  she  voiced  con 
fidingly.  "  Everything  will  be  so  strange  to  me  here 
at  first." 

For  a  second  a  look  that  was  almost  motherly 
softened  Mrs.  Waldow's  hard  face,  but  in  the  back 
ground  Tracy  was  scowling  like  a  thundercloud,  and 
she  remembered. 

"  Thank  you,  miss,  I'm  sure  we  will."  She 
looked  at  the  man  levelly. 

"  Shall  I  serve  lunch  at  once,  sir?  " 

"  Yes.     Upstairs,  at  once." 

Neither  Tracy  nor  the  girl  made  more  than  pre 
tence  of  eating.  Though  he  had  not  attempted 
breakfast,  the  stomach  of  the  man  was  still  a  raging 
cauldron,  and  his  head  throbbed  steadily.  He  al 
most  expected  the  flood  of  ice  water  he  drank  to  be 
tray  hirrt  by  sizzling.  Phelps,  in  whose  company  he 
had  completed  the  previous  night,  could  have  ex 
plained  the  reason.  Likewise  the  girl,  though  she 
made  a  brave  showing  by  tasting  everything,  found 
an  inexplicable  tightness  in  her  throat  an  unsurmount- 
able  barrier.  Tracy  had  chatted  industriously  and 
she  had  listened  and  smiled  dutifully,  but  she  was 
very  glad  when  the  farce  was  over  and  the  silent  maid 
had  cleared  up  the  intimate  little  table.  Alone  at 
last,  Tracy  smilingly  seated  her  in  the  easiest  chair 
and  drew  up  another  close. 

"  Now  you  may  talk,"  he  granted.     "  I'm  posi- 


104  The  Dissolving  Circle 

tively — famished  to  hear  you.  I  wish  to  know  every 
thing  about  yourself,  everything." 

But  somehow  the  girl  didn't  feel  like  talking  now, 
didn't  know  where  to  begin. 

"  It  seems  years  since  I've  seen  you."  Tracy  had 
produced  a  box  of  cigarettes  from  his  coat  and  was 
talking  through  a  haze,  "  and  you're  such  a  poor  let 
ter-writer.  I  almost  imagined  sometimes  you  were 
forgetting  me." 

44  Why,"  the  girl  stiffened  defensively,  "why,  I 
always  wrote  you  every  other  day  and  sometimes 
every  day.  I " 

44  Yes,  I  know,"  laughingly,  "  but  they  were  such 
tiny  letters.  Five  minutes  and  they  were  done — and 
I  still  hungry." 

A  trace  of  colour  came  into  the  girl's  brown  cheeks; 
a  colour  the  man  noticed  and  in  which  he  surrep 
titiously  exulted. 

"  I  know  you  were  so  lonesome,"  she  halted,  "  I 
understood  that  from  your  letters,  and  it  seemed  so 
hard  you  couldn't  leave  here  even  for  a  day.  We 
women  know  so  little  of  business  and,"  the  colour 
deepened,  "  and  I  wanted  you  so,  too !  " 

Tracy's  chair  slipped  a  bit  closer  and  stopped.  He 
took  another  cigarette  from  out  the  fantastically  ori 
ental  box. 

44  I  realise  it  was  hard  for  you  to  understand,  but 
I  should  have  failed  if  I'd  attempted  to  make  the 
reason  clear,  so  I  didn't  try."  He  smiled  tolerantly. 
44  But  let's  forget  it.  You're  here  now,  and  I'm  here. 


Eula  Felkner  105 

To-day,  our  day,  is  come,  to-morrow  is  waiting,  and 
the  day  after,  and  the  day  after  that."  He  was 
looking  at  her  fixedly,  almost  hypnotically.  "  Let's 
forget  it,  I  say.  Let's  be  happy  now." 

The  warm  colour  was  still  in  the  girl's  cheeks,  but 
her  lips  trembled  involuntarily. 

"  You  know  I  never  doubted  you;  it  wasn't  that, 
but  to  leave  the  way  I  did,"  she  swallowed  and  winked 
hard,  "  to  have  one's  mother  say  what  mine  said, 

to "  The  lump  that  all  the  time  had  been  in  her 

throat  tightened  preventingly,  two  great  tears  she 
could  not  repress  started  their  journey  down  her 
cheeks,  and  she  looked  away.  "  I  wish — I  could 
forget,"  she  halted.  "  I  wish  I  could — but  I 
can't!" 

"  Poor  little  girl !  "  Tracy's  chair  was  very  close 
now.  "Poor  little  girl!"  He  patted  the  small 
brown  hand  passive  on  the  chair  arm  protectingly. 
"  I  understand  all,  and  shall  not  forget.  Poor  little 
girl !  " 

Minutes  passed.  On  the  sidewalk  in  front  pedes 
trian  after  pedestrian  pattered  by,  for  it  was  a  busy 
street.  From  somewhere  in  the  rear  of  the  rambling 
old  house  a  maid  sang  softly  at  her  work.  There 
was  the  interrupting  sound  of  an  opening  door,  a  few 
swift  words,  and  the  singing  ceased,  not  to  be  re 
sumed.  Slowly,  very  slowly,  the  girl's  trembling  lips 
grew  still.  Her  free  hand,  with  a  dainty  bit  of  linen 
and  lace  kneaded  in  the  palm,  went  to  her  eyes.  She 
smiled,  a  trusting  little  smile. 


io6  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  You're  so  good  to  me,"  she  voiced,  "  and  I'm 
so  foolish.  I'll  try  not  to  do  it  again." 

Tracy  busied  himself  with  another  cigarette.  He 
didn't  like  to  look  at  the  girl  then.  Long  ago,  very 
long  ago,  in  a  previous  existence,  before  he  knew 
the  world 

"  You're  tired,"  he  justified.  "  It's  a  beastly  dis 
tance  from  civilisation  away  out  here ;  and  everything 
is  very  new.  To-morrow  you'll  feel  different.  I 
wanted  to  suicide  myself  the  first  day  I  was  here  and 
found  out  I'd  have  to  stay,  Heaven  knows  how  long 
- — and  alone." 

It  was  the  girl's  turn  to  comfort,  and  the  lump  was 
forgotten. 

"  Poor  old  Norman,"  she  mocked.  u  Poor  old 
man.  Didn't  have  a  friend  anywhere."  She 
laughed  softly. 

Tracy  was  a  good  actor.  A  real  moisture  came 
to  his  eyes. 

"  I  did  think  so  then,  almost,  when  I  wired  you — 
and  you  didn't  come  and  I  wired  again — and  still  you 
didn't  come."  He  brushed  his  hand  over  his  face. 
"  I  think  I  was  jealous — I  never  was  before.  I 
thought  after  all  maybe  the  other  man "  Be 
neath  his  masquerade  he  was  observing  her  keenly. 
"  You  know  you  would  never  tell  me  anything  about 

him,  even  his  name.  I  fancied "  He  stopped 

and  the  cigarette  in  his  fingers  glowed  fiercely. 

The  girl's  eyes  sparkled,  her  cheeks  flushed. 


Eula  Felkner  107 

"  You  know  why  I  didn't  tell  you  then,  why  I 
never  would  tell  you." 

"  But  I  don't."  The  smouldering  stump  burned 
the  man's  fingers  and  again  his  hand  went  to  the 
gaudy  box.  "  I  couldn't  understand  then  and  I  can't 
now.  Seems  as  though  just  to  prove  it  was  all  past, 
all  dead,  you  wouldn't  be  afraid " 

Eula  Felkner  looked  at  him  reproachfully;  but  her 
cheeks  still  burned. 

"  It  wasn't  of  myself  I  was  afraid,  it  was  of  you 
and — him.  You  men  are  so  unreasonable,  so — prim 
itive." 

Tracy  coughed  suddenly.  Evidently  he  had 
breathed  a  bit  of  smoke. 

"  But  after  four  months,"  he  persisted,  "  certainly 
by  this  time " 

"  You  really  wish  me  to  tell  you?  "  It  was  a  tid 
bit  dangled  just  out  of  reach. 

"  I  wish  you  to  do  just  as  you  please."  The  sud 
den  coldness  was  not  acting  now.  "  I  shall  not  ask 
you  again." 

The  girl's  hands  met  in  her  lap,  clasped.  The  red 
left  her  cheeks,  the  sparkle  her  eyes. 

"  I  can't  tell  you  even  yet."  The  fingers  gripped 
tighter  and  tighter.  "  There's  a  reason,  a  good 
reason,  but  I  can't  tell  you  that  either.  I'm 
afraid. 

Tracy  was  scrutinising  her  steadily.  There  was  a 
deep  line  between  his  thin  eyebrows. 


io8  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  You  have  seen  him  since  I  saw  you,"  he  chal 
lenged  suddenly. 

"  Yes.  I — couldn't  help  it.  He  came  clear  to 
Chicago  on  purpose." 

"  He  came — from  where?  " 

Eula  Felkner,  her  eyes  very  wide,  returned  his 
look  bravely. 

"  Don't  ask  me,  please,  for  I  can't  tell  you.  Please 
don't  ask  me." 

Tracy  lit  still  another  cigarette  from  the  stump 
of  the  last  and  smoked  it  half  up  in  silence.  Not  for 
an  instant  did  the  furrow  leave  his  forehead  nor  his 
eyes  her  eyes.  From  experience  he  knew  he  could 
dominate,  and  the  temptation  was  irresistible.  Very 
quickly  the  girl  drooped.  Her  face  fell  into  her 
hands  spasmodically. 

"  Don't  look  at  me  that  way,"  she  pleaded  des 
perately,  "  don't!  You  can't  doubt  me  after  what 
I've  done,  since  I've  come.  I  was  so  young  when  I 
met  him;  it  was  four  years  ago;  but  it's  all  past  now, 
all  dead  since  I've  known  you.  I'll  tell  you  sometime, 
anything,  everything;  but  now,  while  we're  here,  for 
give  me,  but  I  can't.  I  can't!  "  > 

Tracy  arose  heavily,  elaborately,  and  walking  over 
to  a  window  stood  with  his  back  to  her,  listening  in 
tently.  As  well  as  though  facing  a  mirror  he  knew 
what  was  taking  place  behind  him.  The  quick  catch 
of  the  breath  showed  that  she  had  understood  his  ac 
tion;  thought  she  did.  A  longer  silence  passed,  while 
she  accumulated  courage  to  look  up.  A  faint  little 


Eula  Felkner  fcx) 

sniff  following  was  the  accompaniment  to  which  her 
tears  were  dried.  At  last  came  the  expected. 

"  Norman " 

He  did  not  stir. 

"  Norman  Tracy,"  repeated  a  bit  louder. 

Still  the  man  listened. 

A  chair  creaked  very,  very  slightly,  a  footfall  came 
hesitatingly  across  the  room,  a  hand  touched  his 
shoulder. 

"  Norman,"  pleadingly,  "  please  don't  hurt  me  so. 
You're  all  I've  got.  I've  given  up  everything,  every 
thing  for  you.  Oh,  and  I  thought  I  was  to  be  so 
happy  to-day.  Oh!  Oh!" 

At  last  it  was  the  moment,  his  moment,  and  the 
man  turned.  There  was  no  chasm  between  the  brows 
now,  no  coldness  in  the  eyes.  His  face  was  warm, 
more  than  warm ;  flushed,  exultant.  Upon  it,  staring 
forth  legibly,  was  something  else,  something  which 
should  have  been  a  warning;  but  dainty  brown  Eula 
Felkner  did  not  understand,  could  not  understand, 
for  she  had  never  known  the  like.  She  only 
realised  that  she  had  been  forgiven,  that  the 
human  she  had  confidently  accepted  as  her  god 
was  very  near,  that  in  measure  as  she  had  been 
unhappy  a  moment  before  she  was  happy  now, 
that  temporarily,  conventional  morality  was  a 
shadowy,  paltry  thing,  that  the  arms  of  her  god  were 
of  a  sudden  about  her,  shutting  out  memory  of  past, 
thought  of  future;  that  his  voice  was  in  her  ears 
speaking  her  name,  Eula,  Eula  Felkner,  that  his 


no  The  Dissolving  Circle 

kisses,  burning,  intoxicating,  were  damp  upon  her 
cheek,  her  throat,  that  it  was  now,  now!  glorious, 
oblivious  now ! 

A  century  passed — or  was  it  a  second  ?  An  ances 
tral  something,  an  instinct  she  never  thought  to  ana 
lyse,  was  calling,  calling  compellingly.  Then,  real 
ity,  guardian  angel,  mocking  fiend,  returned.  She 
drew  back,  her  face  flaming,  her  whole  body  trem 
bling.  She  struggled  to  be  free,  was  free. 

"  No,  no,"  she  voiced  without  reason. 

But  similarly  something,  a  thing  he  had  many  times 
analysed,  was  calling  the  man. 

"  Eula,"  he  cried,  "  Eula,"  and  came  a  step  for 
ward. 

Again  she  drew  back. 

"  No."  There  was  no  mistaking  the  determina 
tion  in  the  monosyllable. 

Tracy  paused.  The  scowl  returned  blacker  than 
before.  He  spoke — almost;  completely  mentally, 
but  physically  he  caught  the  words  forming  on  his 
lips.  He  was  a  good  gambler,  and  the  present  stake 
was  big,  magnificent.  To  speak,  to  act,  now  would 
be  fatal,  irremediable.  The  man  himself,  not  the 
masquerader  this  time,  went  stalking  back  to  the 
window. 

Instinctively,  vaguely  even,  the  girl  realised  the  dif 
ferent  attitude.  Her  lip  did  not  tremble  this  time, 
but  her  great  eyes  widened  as  under  a  mydriatic  and 
her  brown  face  grew  almost  pale.  She  followed  him 
slowly. 


Eula  Felkner  in 

"  Norman,"  she  voiced  again. 

And  again  there  was  no  response. 

"  Norman,"  her  hand  was  once  more  on  his 
shoulder,  her  voice  very  steady.  "  Norman,  when 
are  we  to  be — married?  " 

Still  the  man's  face  was  turned  away. 

"  Norman,"  intensely,  pleadingly,  "  don't  play 
with  me  now,  to-day.  I'm  serious.  Tell  me." 

This  time  the  man  turned.  He  smiled,  slowly, 
peculiarly. 

"Afraid,  doubting — already?"  he  satirised. 
"For  shame!" 

"  No,  no,  it  isn't  that,"  the  grip  of  the  hand  on  the 
shoulder  tightened  unconsciously,  "  but  I'm  a  girl  and 
— and  I  wish  to  know." 

"  I  see,"  the  smile  broadened.  "  You're  not  afraid, 
you're  merely — scared." 

"  Norman  1  "  A  world  of  reproach  was  in  the 
voice,  the  imminent  prophesy  of  a  deluge  as  well. 

"  Eula,  po'  IIP  girl!  "  Again  the  man's  arm  was 
around  her,  but  merely  protectingly  this  time. 
"  We're  tired  and — nervous  now,  both  of  us."  He 
was  thinking  swiftly,  was  Norman  Tracy.  "  I'm 
going  to  leave  you  for  a  while.  Lie  down  and  go  to 
sleep.  I'll  be  back  for  dinner."  Once,  twice  he  pat 
ted  the  little  hand  on  his  shoulder  deliberately. 
"  Au  revoir,"  and  snatching  up  hat  and  coat  he  was 
gone. 


Chapter  IX 

ACQUAINTANCE 

A  MAID  with  a  pert,  retrousse  nose  and  a  diminutive 
frilled  cap  on  her  curly  head  opened  the  door. 

"  You  are  the  doctor,  is  it  not  so?  "  she  questioned 
with  an  eye  on  the  black  leather  case  under  the  vis 
itor's  arm.  At  a  discreet  distance  down  the  corridor 
the  long-legged  bell-boy  who  had  acted  as  guide  was 
winking  at  her,  and  she  paused  to  bestow  on  him  a 
freezing  stare.  "  Please  to  come  in.  I  have  been 
directed."  She  crossed  the  room  airily  and  tapped 
on  an  inner  door.  "  Madam,  I  think,  is  waiting." 

"Come!"  The  voice  just  penetrated  the  oak 
panels. 

The  maid  opened  the  door  significantly. 

"  The  doctor,  ma'am,"  she  announced,  stared,  her 
head  to  one  side,  at  the  back  of  the  long  man  who 
entered,  and  closed  the  door  gently  behind  him. 

A  woman  in  a  warm  red  dressing  sack  and  the 
daintiest  of  low-cut  slippers  was  reclining,  in  profile, 
to  the  entrance,  before  the  Ninth  Street  window.  She 
did  not  turn  about  and  the  visitor  paused. 

"  I  am  Bruce  Watson,"  he  said.  "  You  wished 
to  see  me?  " 

"  Yes."     A  perfectly  manicured  hand,  very  white 

112 


Acquaintance  113 

by  contrast  with  the  pile  of  loose  black  hair,  adjusted 
a  straggling  lock  unnecessarily  and  returned  to  her 
lap.  "  Yes,  I  sent  for  you." 

The  doctor  laid  hat  and  case  on  a  convenient  table 
and  came  toward  the  window.  Midway  he  paused 
and  stood  looking  at  his  patient  peculiarly;  then  he 
came  on  and  took  a  chair  by  her  side. 

"  The  boy  gave  no  name.  I  hardly  expected  to 
find  Mrs.  Thurston  the  invalid,"  he  commented  con 
ventionally.  "  Tell  me  the  trouble,  please." 

The  woman  scarcely  looked  at  him,  but  one 
hand  made  a  vague  little  gesture  of  hopeless  ob 
scurity. 

"  I  don't  know,"  she  said. 

The  doctor  smiled  tolerantly.  He  had  seen  simi 
lar  helplessness  before. 

"We'll  try  to  find  out,"  he  encouraged,  and  went 
through  the  formulas.  No  light  came. 

"  Can't  you  give  me  a  suggestion?  "  he  requested, 
"  something  definite  to  work  on?  " 

The  woman  hesitated.  There  was  the  rustle  of 
silk  as  one  slippered  foot  shifted  position. 

"  I  didn't  sleep  much  last  night,"  she  halted.  "  My 
bed  folds  down  in  front  of  this  window  and  I've 
grown  accustomed  to  watching  something  without. 
It's  been  a  sort  of  hypnotic  to  me  and — and  it  wasn't 
in  place  last  night." 

Bruce  Watson  said  nothing. 

"  Would  it  help  you  any  if  I — explained  what  I 
missed?  " 


H4  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  It  might."     The  voice  was  very  quiet. 

In  the  pause  there  was  again  the  rustle  of  silken 
petticoats  and  the  dainty  slippers  reappeared. 

"  I'll  tell  you  then."  Of  a  sudden  the  black  eyes, 
minus  the  languor,  were  fixed  on  the  doctor's  face,  as 
they  had  paused  a  moment  the  previous  night  before 
the  theatre.  "  It  was  a  light  on  the  sixth  floor  of 
the  building  opposite,  a  light  and  a  man  beside  it  who 
sat  there  reading  or  doing  nothing  but  smoke  every 
night  previous  since  I've  been  here."  The  hand  re 
peated  the  gesture  of  hopeless  obscurity. 

"  I  don't  know  the  trouble." 

The  seconds  flew  while  the  doctor  returned  the 
look.  In  the  silence  the  life  murmur  of  the  big 
hotel,  mingled  with  the  muffled  canary-like  chirping 
of  the  maid  busy  with  her  work  in  the  room  adjoin 
ing,  crept  stealthily  into  the  place.  The  woman's 
black  eyes  returned  to  the  window. 

;<  We,  prisoners,  you  know,  get  to  noticing  little 
things,  expecting  them.  I  couldn't — can't  imagine 
what  is  the  trouble." 

The  man  arose  slowly,  with  the  unconscious  stretch 
which  like  that  of  a  wild  thing  was  so  instinctive,  and 
buttoned  his  coat.  The  garment  was  very  new,  very 
obviously  ready  made.  In  fact,  but  a  few  hours 
previous  it  had  reposed  on  the  shelves  of  an  Israelite 
merchant. 

"  Mrs.  Thurston,"  from  crown  to  slippers  he  ob 
served  the  woman  below  him  calmly,  unemotionally, 
"  as  an  under  dog  I  thought  myself  acquainted  with 


Acquaintance  115 

all  the  nice  little  devices  designed  by  the  upper  dogs 
to  emphasise  our  subservient  condition;  but  I  find  I 
was  mistaken."  Neither  hurrying  nor  lingering,  he 
moved  toward  his  hat  and  case.  "  I  thank  you  for 
the  disclosure  and — wish  you  a  good-morning." 

"  Dr.  Watson " 

The  man  opened  the  door  and  simultaneously  the 
voice  of  the  maid  was  silent. 

"  Dr.  Watson !  "  a  note  of  command  was  in  the 
voice. 

The  door  closed  gently;  but  with  the  visitor  with 
out. 

The  woman  turned,  and  for  a  second  looked  at 
the  exit  peculiarly;  then,  a  half  smile  on  her  lips, 
she  sprang  to  her  feet  and  followed. 

"  Dr.  Watson !  "  She  had  overtaken  him  in  the 
corridor. 

The  man  addressed  paused. 

"  Isn't  it  considered  impolite  to  ignore  a  lady's 
summons,"  she  had  come  close  and  the  black  eyes 
were  looking  him  fair,  "  to  go  when  requested  to 
stay?" 

Again  and  equally  directly  Watson  returned  her 
look. 

u  We  Westerners,  you  know,  are  proverbially  im 
polite,  Mrs.  Thurston." 

"  But  you  must  certainly  have  exceptions.  All  rules 
have." 

"  There  are  no  exceptions  to  Westerners.  That 
also  is  proverbial." 


n6  The  Dissolving  Circle 

41  Is  there  no  possible  way,  then,  to  avoid  the 
obstacle, "  the  wrinkled  brow  suggested  intense 
thought,  "  to  gratify  one's  wish?  " 

The  medicine  case  had  slipped  a  bit  in  the  hollow 
of  the  man's  arm  and  he  returned  it  to  its  place  si 
lently.  In  the  opening  of  the  partially  closed  door 
a  pert  retrousse  nose  and  a  pair  of  curious  eyes  ap 
peared.  The  mistress  caught  the  deflection  and  as 
suddenly  the  space  was  vacant. 

"  Dr.  Watson,"  she  digressed  swiftly,  "  I  beg  your 
pardon  if  you  insist,  though  I  meant  no  harm.  I 
really  wish  to  talk  with  you.  Will  you  return?  " 

Once  more  as  when  she  had  sat  before  the  window 
Bruce  Watson  gave  the  woman  inspection.  As 
though  judge  at  a  live  stock  show  he  went  through 
her  points.  From  the  full  forehead  with  its  heavy 
black  crown  his  glance  went  to  the  tiny  ears  and  the 
broad  dome  behind;  to  the  wide-opened  nostrils; 
to  the  strong  round  chin;  in  ensemble  the  face  was 
very  red  by  this  time,  but  he  did  not  pause; — to 
the  full  bust  with  the  slender  waist — slender  by  na 
ture,  not  by  art — separating  it  from  the  fuller  hips. 
He  was  not  personal  or  insolent;  he  was  merely 
analytic.  That  she  was  handsome,  undeniably,  strik 
ingly  handsome,  apparently  he  did  not  consider. 

Tjr 

"  I  repeat  my  request."  It  was  a  bell-boy,  the 
long-legged  hop  who  had  acted  as  messenger,  who 
was  curious  this  time  and  the  woman  spoke  hurriedly. 
"  Will  you  or  will  you  not  return?  " 


Acquaintance  1 17 

The  inspection  ceased.  The  blue  eyes  smiled  un- 
derstandingly. 

"  I  am  at  your  service,  Mrs.  Thurston." 

"  I  suppose  " — the  speaker  was  back  in  her  orig 
inal  seat,  but  not  looking  out  of  the  window  now. 
There  had  been  a  long  silence — "  I  suppose  you  think 
I'm  demented  or  worse;  but  I'm  not — yet.  Why, 
please,  if  a  prisoner  takes  interest  in  a  certain  window 
and  a  certain  light,  just  why  should  that  interest  be 
considered — reprehensible?  " 

"  Why?  "  answered  an  echo. 

"  Why  again  should  a  question  concerning  that 
interest  be  deemed  an  insult?  " 

"  Why  indeed !  "    The  echo  was  on  full  duty. 

They  were  facing  now,  a  smile  in  the  wrinkles 
of  the  doctor's  eyes,  the  lids  of  the  woman  just 
drooping. 

"  But  you  refused  to  answer  my  suggestion." 

"Did  I?    I  fail  to  recall " 

"  You  were  silent  and — offended,  which  was  iden 
tical." 

"  Silence  a  refusal?  "  Bruce  Watson  was  looking 
up  at  the  window  of  his  own  office  meditatively.  "  I 
hardly  think  so.  Silence  is  like  the  ubiquitous  '  they  ' 
of  gossip,  a  very  elusive  factor." 

"You  don't  decline  to  answer  then,  I  gather?" 
The  accompanying  glance  was  very  direct. 

"  I  repeat,  I  am  at  your  service,"  with  a  bow. 

The  lids  drooped  a  bit  more  over  the  black  eyes 
as  the  woman  leaned  back. 


n8  The  Dissolving  Circle 

'Tell  me  then  the  meaning  of  that — escapade  I 
saw  under  way  last  evening.  What  happened  after 
you  disappeared  down  the  street?  " 

Watson  was  still  looking  up  at  his  own  quarters. 

"Might  I  enquire  the  reason  you  ask?" 

"  Put  it  down,  if  you  wish,  to  mere  idle  curiosity." 
Apparently  unconsciously  the  woman's  left  hand  lifted 
and,  the  sleeve  of  the  dressing  sack  falling  back,  re 
vealed  a  soft  white  arm  to  the  elbow.  "  I  know  all 
of  those  people  who  were  with  you." 

"Know  them?" 

"  Unfortunately,  yes."  She  made  a  wry  face. 
"  Birds  of  a  feather,  modernised,  stop  at  the  Cata 


ract." 


"  I  regret,  Mrs.  Thurston,"  the  wide-set  blue  eyes 
had  returned,  "  that  I  can't  grant  your  request." 

u  After  all,  then,  my  analysis  of  silence  was  not  so 
incorrect?  " 

"  No.  You  asked  me  concerning  a  certain  light. 
It  was  absent  because  I  was  absent.  The — escapade 
was  an  initiation,  and  as  its  raw  material  I  am  under 
obligation.  It  was  a  secret  rite.  I  have  it  on  au 
thority." 

The  woman  looked  at  him  peculiarly,  a  bit  sar 
castically. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  Dr.  Watson,  for  my — un 
fortunate  remark  concerning  your  friends." 

"  I  hasten  to  assure  you  of  forgiveness,  Mrs. 
Thurston." 


Acquaintance  119 

The  blue  eyes  and  the  jet  black  met.  It  was  the 
latter  which  capitulated. 

"  Again  in  mere  curiosity  why  wasn't  an  account 
of  the  affair,  at  least  what  we  all  saw  here  on  Ninth 
Street,  in  the  papers?" 

"  Once  more  I  regret  my  inability  to  answer.  Per 
haps  Mr.  Tracy,  if  approached " 

"  You  mean  they,  the  papers,  were  bought  up?  " 

"  Such  proceedings  have  been  known  in  journalism. 
I  have  no  personal  knowledge." 

There  was  a  lull  in  which  a  look  of  something 
more  than  annoyance  flashed  over  the  woman's  dark 
face.  For  one  of  the  few  times  in  her  life  she  was 
finding  a  man  baffling. 

"  Dr.  Watson,"  of  a  sudden  she  was  looking  him 
fair,  "  why  is  it  that  you  persist  in  standing  me  in  a 
corner  like  a  naughty  little  schoolgirl?  We're  both 
too  old  to  fear  the  bug-a-boo  convention.  Why,  if 
I  meet  someone  with  whom  it  seems  possible  I  could 
get  in  touch,  should  I  be  prevented?  I'm  not  a  siren 
or — what  the  attitude  of  your  best  people  " — she 
mouthed  the  last  three  words  inimitably — "  seems  to 
brand  me.  I'm  a  human  being  and,  I  admit  it,  a 
very  lonesome  one.  I  think  to-day  I'm — desperate." 

Watson's  long  arms  folded  across  his  chest. 

u  By  an  odd  coincidence  I  heard  a  very  similar  con 
fession  only  last  night.  It  would  break  no  confidence, 
I  believe,  if  I  gave  the  name,  Mr.  Barry." 

"  Thanks  for  the  suggestion.     I  think  " — a  short 


I2O  The  Dissolving  Circle 

laugh  interrupted — "  I  think  I  shall  have  to  look 
Mr.  Barry  up." 

"  Boston  and  New  York,  Mrs.  Thurston,  are  a 
bit  separate." 

"  You  mean  to  tell  me,"  frank  incredulity  was  in 
the  voice,  "  that  he's  changed  his  mind,  is  going  back 
—now?" 

"  He  climbed  six  flights  of  stairs  this  morning  be 
fore  the  elevator  started,  to  tell  me  so." 

"  And  you " 

"  I  helped  him  pack.  My  time,  I  regret  to  say, 
Is  not  valuable." 

"  I  think  I  understand."  Almost  unconsciously  the 
sleeve  was  returned  over  the  bare  arm.  "  Yes,  I 
know  I  understand.  You  are  a  good — friend,  Dr. 
Watson." 

The  man  said  nothing. 

For  a  half  minute  the  woman  eyed  him  steadily, 
tiny  wrinkles  furrowing  her  brow.  Twin  pictures  of 
a  man  sitting,  hour  after  hour,  night  after  night, 
alone  in  a  sixth-floor  room,  and  of  the  same  man  rac 
ing  fantastically  through  a  public  street  between  rows 
of  jeering  spectators,  struggled  for  compromise  in 
her  brain.  The  furrows  deepened. 

"  Pardon  me,"  she  protested,  "  if  I'm — tiresome, 
Dr.  Watson,  but  you're — inexplicable.  You  know 
what  I  mean." 

"  Yes,  I  think  so,"  slowly.  "  We're  all  a  bit  il 
logical,  Mrs.  Thurston,  in  addition  more  or  less 
Jekylls  and  Hydes.  I'm  no  exception." 


Acquaintance  121 

"  Perhaps  elementally,"  grudgingly,  "  but  not  in 
public.  Fancy  what  your  best  people,  your — *  Nob 
Hill/  you  call  it — are  commenting  to-day!"  She 
smiled  ironically.  "  I  fear  you're  lost,  Dr.  Watson." 

Again  the  man  said  nothing. 

"  I'm  almost  jealous.  As  a  centre  of  gossip  I  and 
my  class  will  be  totally  eclipsed." 

"  I  dare  say."  The  voice  was  politely  corrobora 
tive,  wholly  uninterested;  the  pause  which  followed 
very  suggestive.  His  companion  caught  the  implica 
tion  and  for  the  first  time  showed  her  hand. 

"  Dr.  Watson,"  she  attacked  directly,  "  you  haven't 
answered  my  question.  Is  it  because  you  fear  con 
tagion,  because  you  accept  the  verdict  that  of  neces 
sity  a  divorcee  must  be — bad,  that  you  won't  be 
friends?" 

"  Pardon  me,  but  I  haven't  declined  to  be  friends. 
As  to  the  verdict,  I  was  not  conscious  that  one  had 
been  given." 

"  Not  given !  you're  rather  humorous.  I  look  in 
the  mirror  sometimes  for  the  scarlet  letter,  it  seems 
so  obvious  it  must  be  attached  to  me  somewhere." 

One  of  Watson's  long  legs  crossed  the  other  and 
he  leaned  back  comfortably. 

"  Did  you  ever  consider,  Mrs.  Thurston,  how  much 
weight  the  attitude  of  the  people  you  quote  bears  to 
the  mass  of  Sioux  Falls?  " 

"  Certainly  you,  a  mere  man,  won't  contradict  the 
ultimatum  of — society!  " 

The  visitor  ignored  the  sarcasm. 


122  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  How  many  people  here  do  you  suppose  have 
ever  given  you  a  thought,  much  less  a  verdict?  " 

"  Probably  very  few." 

"  Certainly  very  few."  He  caught  her  look.  "  I 
mean  no  disrespect,  but  the  great  mass,  the  people 
who  count,  who  do  things,  who  are  worth  while,  are 
as  absolutely  unaware  of  your  presence  as  though 
you  were  at  home.  The  first  sight,  the  initial  contact 
with  a  town  is  of  necessity  misleading.  Pour  any 
liquids,  and  people  are  fluid,  together,  and  the  foam 
seeks  the  surface.  We  have  the  froth  here,  to  be 
sure,  and  it  first  of  all  impresses  the  newcomer;  but 
except  itself,  not  one  resident  here  takes  its  bubbling 
seriously.  The  real  developers,  and  everyone  of  con 
sequence  in  this  new  country  is  such,  have  no  time  to 
waste  condoning  or  condemning  a  chance  transient 
resident.  Accept  my  word  for  it,  the  motive  which 
brought  you  here  is  of  no  more  importance  to  them 
than  who  is  the  latest  favourite  of  the  Sultan  of 
Turkey.  Don't  waste  satire  on  a  dummy  of  straw." 

"  But  granting  all  you  say  to  be  true — and  you 
make  one  believe  it  is  true — you  can't  deny  that  you 
yourself,  with  whom  I've  absolutely  come  in  contact, 
are  holding  me  away?" 

"  No,"  slowly,  "  I  won't  deny  that." 

"  Tell  me  why  then,  please.  A  man  who  reads  and 
smokes  night  after  night  alone  can't  be  burdened 
with  friends.  Is  it  because  you  personally  consider 
me  bad,  not  worth  while?" 

"  I  don't  know  you,  Mrs.  Thurston.    It's  not  that." 


Acquaintance  123 

"  The  Instinct  of  convention  still  lingers  perhaps?  " 

"  No,"  again. 

The  woman  leaned  forward  intensely.  Her  dark 
face  worked. 

"What  under  Heaven  is  the  explanation  then? 
I'm  human  and  lonesome,  and  you've  shown  me  your 
self  how  impossible  it  is  to  get  into  the  lives  of  any 
of  the  people  I'd  like  to  meet.  You  interest  me. 
Don't  misunderstand,  this  isn't  flattery.  I've  watched 
you.  You've  proven  you  can  be  a  friend,  a  good  one. 
Why  shouldn't  we  repeat  the  experience  if  we 
wish?" 

Very  slowly  Watson  arose. 

"  I  think  if  you'll  consider  the  matter  a  moment 
you'll  understand  without  my  telling  you." 

"  I  have  considered."  A  hopeless  little  gesture 
again  bared  the  plump  arm  to  the  elbow.  "  Do  you 
fancy  it  was  on  an  instant's  whim  that  I  sent  for 
you?" 

"  No,  I  suppose  not."  Unconsciously  the  speaker's 
hands  disappeared  in  his  pockets.  "  The  reason,  Mrs. 
Thurston,  is  this.  A  man  and  a  woman  of  equal  age 
cannot  become  vitally  intimate  and  remain  friends. 
They  must  either  stop  short  of  understanding,  which 
is  useless,  or  become  more.  The  thing  you  suggest 
is  impossible." 

The  woman  too  had  risen  now  and  stood  facing 
him  squarely. 

"  Do  you  mean  to  tell  me,  Bruce  Watson,  that 
you're  afraid  of  becoming — more?  " 


124  The  Dissolving  Circle 

There  was  no  answer. 

"  Obviously  not."  The  red  lips  curled  slightly. 
"  It  is  I  who  take  the  chance  and  I  assure  you  I'm 
willing  to  accept  the  risk." 

Still  there  was  no  answer  and  the  woman  came  a 
step  closer. 

"  One  would  think  we  were  children  afraid  of  the 
dark,  or  a  pair  of  our  ancestors,  the  apes,  chattering 
in  terror  at  sight  of  fire."  The  black  eyes  were  burn 
ing  ominously.  "  If  you  decline  to  be  friends,  say 
so  flatly.  Don't  offer  a  schoolboy  evasion  such  as 
you've  given." 

Even  yet  the  man  did  not  answer,  but  for  the  sec 
ond  time  took  up  hat  and  case. 

"  I  think  it  were  better  I  went  now,"  he  said  evenly. 

For  a  moment  the  woman  did  not  stir,  only  looked 
at  him ;  then  of  a  sudden  the  colour  mounted  her  dark 
face  like  a  flame. 

"  Certainly,  if  you  wish.  I'm  not  a  jailer."  A 
challenge,  an  ironic  mockery  spoke  in  the  distended 
nostrils,  throbbing  in  the  repressed  voice.  "  Rest  as 
sured  I  shall  not  follow  you  again." 

Another  moment  the  man  hesitated;  then  of  a  sud 
den,  hat  in  hand,  he  turned.  In  the  space  of  that 
instant,  short  as  it  was,  an  alteration  unbelievable 
had  come  over  him,  a  change  which  sent  the  red 
scurrying  from  his  companion's  face. 

"  I  repeat  I  think  it  were  better  I  went  now."  He 
was  actually  smiling;  that  broad,  wide-eyed,  under 
standing  smile  of  his.  "  By  some  chance  I  might 


Acquaintance  125 

have  a  patient  waiting.  I  shall  be  pleased,  however, 
to  return  at  any  time  you  wish.  I  shall  await  your 
pleasure,  Mrs.  Thurston."  A  second  longer  he  re 
mained  so,  smiling  down  at  her;  then  with  a  bow 
he  was  gone. 


Chapter  X 

MASQUERADE 

"  COME  in,"  grudged  a  surly  voice. 

"  At  last,"  Phelps  interrupted  his  sentence  with  a 
distinct  slam  of  the  door  behind  him,  "  at  last  I've 
found  you.  Where  in  the  name  of  all  that's  good 
and  proper  have  you  been  all  day?  I've  vibrated 
back  and  forth  between  here  and  the  club  until  the 
elevator  boy  thinks  I'm  crazy." 

Tracy  continued  his  packing  in  unbroken  silence. 

"  If  you  won't  explain,  at  least  give  me  a  cigarette." 
The  newcomer  threw  himself  on  the  bed  and  propped 
his  head  up  with  the  pillows.  "  I'll  do  the  talking 
for  two  for  a  bit." 

"What's  the  fresh  trouble?"  Tracy  tossed  over 
the  box  requested.  "Wasn't  to-day's  letter  warm 
enough  to  suit  you?  " 

"  It's  you  that's  the  matter,"  ignored  Phelps  with 
fine  scorn.  "  You've  done  just  what  I  said  you  would, 
smashed  our  club  into  a  memory."  He  scratched  a 
match  vindictively.  "  I  was  over  there  for  three  hours 
this  afternoon  and  save  for  the  janitor  not  a  soul 
showed  up." 

«  Well " 

"Well!"  The  faded  eyes  blinked  angrily. 
"  Well,  I've  got  two  months  to  put  in  here  yet  some 
how  and  now  they'll  seem  two  years." 

126 


Masquerade  127 

"  Got  to  put  in,  you  say?  "  Tracy  folded  a  pair  of 
trousers  carefully.  "  Do  you  know  I  was  labouring 
under  the  impression  that  somehow,  if  the  necessity 
was  thrust  upon  them,  the  town  here  would  manage 
to  struggle  along  even  if  you  were  to  go  to-morrow." 

Phelps  glowered  through  the  haze  of  smoke  in 
silence. 

"  If  I  were  you  and  dissatisfied,"  completed  Tracy, 
"  I'd  cut  it." 

The  visitor  scowled  more  portentously  than  be 
fore,  but  apparently  the  other  was  totally  oblivious. 
In  consequence  the  choler  of  the  boy-man  augmented, 
passed  the  point  of  repression. 

"  Gad,"  he  exploded  at  last,  "  you'd  try  the  pa 
tience  of  a  saint,  Norman!  A  person  would  think 
you  weren't  in  the  same  boat." 

"  I'm  not."  The  coat  and  vest  followed  the 
trousers,  and  Tracy  went  in  search  of  fresh  material. 
"  I  like  it  here,  so  well,  in  fact,  that  I'm  liable  to 
stay  for  a  year." 

Phelps  blew  a  clear  line  of  vision. 

"  Don't  attempt  to  be  humorous,  Norman,"  he  ad 
vised  spitefully.  "  It's  not  your  forte,  you  know." 

Tracy  said  nothing,  and  Phelps  finished  the  cigar 
ette  in  silence.  Obviously  the  shot  had  told,  and  the 
marksman  fairly  gloated.  Usually  with  Tracy  he 
was  at  the  other  end  of  a  sarcastic  sentence. 

"  By  the  way,"  he  helped  himself  afresh  from  the 
box,  "  how's  your  friend  Watson  to-day?  I  trust 
he  didn't  catch  cold  or  anything  last  night?  " 


ia8  The  Dissolving  Circle 

The  labourer  paused  in  his  packing,  a  sheaf  of 
freshly  laundered  collars  strung  over  his  arm. 

"  My  boy,"  he  said  with  meaning  deliberation,  "  the 
time  is  coming — I  trust — when  you'll  know  more 
than  you  do  now.  To  hell  with  Watson !  " 

Stephen  Phelps  puffed  on  in  pure  delight. 

"  Done  with  him,  arc  you,  Norman?"  he  goaded 
smilingly. 

"  Yes."  The  cuffs  were  transferred  to  the  trunk 
and  patted  smooth  with  unnecessary  nicety.  "  Yes, 
I'm  done  with  him  as  completely  as  I  am  with  you.  I 
can't  think  of  a  more  final  comparison." 

Phelps  laughed  outright.  It  was  a  delightful  joke. 
In  fancy  he  already  heard  himself  telling  it  to  Marsh. 

"  Going  to  isolate  yourself  completely  in  future, 
eh?  May  I  inquire  your  address  to  be?  " 

"  I  see  no  reason  why  you  shouldn't  inquire — if 
you  wish." 

"  Very  well  then,  I  do  inquire." 

"  Or  inquire  a  second  time  if  it  gives  any  satisfac 
tion." 

"  All  right,"  easily,  "  I  ask  you  a  second  time." 

"  Or  even  a  third." 

[Phelps  sat  up. 

"  What  the  deuce  are  you  getting  at,  Norman  ? 
Do  you  mean  you  won't  tell  me  ?  " 

Tracy  poked  a  roll  of  soiled  linen  into  a  vacant 
niche  with  his  cane. 

"  I  thought  I  was  explicit  enough  originally.  I  will 
repeat,  however,  if  you  wish." 


Masquerade  129 

Phelps'  boy  face  went  very  red. 

"  I'm  to  understand  then,"  the  voice  was  redolent 
of  dignity,  "  that  you  were  serious  when  you  said 
you  were  going  to — cut  me?  " 

"  You've  grasped  my  meaning  perfectly."  The 
accompanying  bow  was  sarcastically  elaborate.  "  I 
congratulate  you  upon  your  marked  development." 

Involuntarily  Phelps'  hand  went  to  the  box  for  a 
cigarette.  It  was  empty. 

"  Here's  one  unopened,"  proffered  Tracy,  tossing 
over  a  gaudy  mate. 

"  Confound  you,  Norman,"  the  visitor  was  on  his 
feet,  "  I  can't  believe  this  of  you.  Are  you  merely 
guying  me  or  not?  " 

Tracy  straightened,  a  pitying  smile  upon  his  lips. 

"  Good  Lord,  man,"  he  emphasised,  "  must  I  make 
affidavit  and  have  a  notary's  seal  attached  before 
you'll  believe  me?  Most  emphatically  I'm  not  mas 
querading.  I'm  done  with  you  and  Marsh  and  Barry 
and  Butler — and  all  of  you.  Is  that  distinct 
enough?  " 

"  Yes."  Phelps  was  quiet  now.  "  I  understand 
you  perfectly;  but  why?  There  must  be  a  reason. 
We've  been  rather — at  least  useful  to  each  other." 

"  You've  said  it — answered  your  own  question. 
You  have  been  useful  and  ceased  to  be  so:  the  com 
plete  explanation  in  a  sentence." 

"  Part  of  it,  you  mean,"  the  oval  chin  with  the 
dimple  in  the  centre  tightened  doggedly,  "  the  lesser 
part.  I  see  no  reason  why  one  so  frank  as  you  should 


130  The  Dissolving  Circle 

avoid  the  real  admission.  I  wish  you  joy  of  her — < 
whoever  she  may  be." 

"  Good !  Capital !  "  Tracy  was  smiling  openly. 
4  You're  developing  possibilities  of  which  I  never 
dreamed  you  capable.  By  the  time  you — grow  up 
you — may  be — even  bearable." 

u  Tracy,"  Phelps'  face  was  as  white  as  his  clinched 
fists,  "  damn  you — — " 

"  Tut,  tut,"  the  other  held  up  a  reproving  hand, 
"  spare  your  expletives,  my  boy.  They're  very  use 
ful  on  adequate  occasion;  too  useful  to  waste.  I 
don't  wish  to  wrangle  with  you."  He  smiled  conde 
scendingly.  "  You're  not  worth  while.  Just  because 
you  see  fit  to  be  jealous,  because  I  happen  to  have  the 
nerve  to  go  after  what  I  want  while  you  sit  down 
to  gnaw  at  your  paws  and  wait,  like  a  starved  puppy — 
do  you  fancy  I'm  going  to  quarrel  over  that?  " 

"  No,"  it  was  Phelps'  turn  to  smile,  u  I  don't 
imagine  you'd  quarrel — really,  with  anyone,  you — 
bully.  You'd  nag  them  and  insult  them — if  they  per 
mitted  you,  as  I  have — I  acknowledge  it;  but  if  they 

showed  fight "  Of  a  sudden  the  smile  left  his 

lips,  the  pink  fingers  clinched  afresh.  "  You  brag  of 
nerve,  you,  after  last  night.  God,  man,  where's  your 
memory!  " 

Tracy  stiffened.  The  dapper  little  cane  still  in  his 
hand  indicated  the  door. 

"  You  may  go  now,"  he  said. 

"  Nerve,"  Phelps  ignored  the  gesture,  "  you  call 
it  nerve  to  bring  a  girl  young  enough  almost  to  be 


Masquerade  131 

your  daughter  out  here  on  a  lie — oh,  I  understood 
you  all  right,  though  you  thought  I  was  too  drunk — 
nerve  to " 

Interrupting,  Tracy  strode  across  the  room  and 
with  his  own  hand  flung  open  the  door.  "  Out  of 
here,  I  say,"  he  voiced,  "  quick!  " 

"  Oh,  I'll  go,  never  fear."  Phelps  took  up  his  hat 
almost  jauntily.  For  the  moment  he  held  the  whip 
hand  and  the  knowledge  intoxicated  him.  u  I'll  go, 
but " — he  paused  face  to  face  with  the  other  man 
menacingly — "  but  don't  fancy  I'll  forget  you.  We'll 
be  here  in  this  town  together  several  days  yet,  and 
youVe  told  me  at  different  times  a  good  many  things. 
You'll  regret  this  afternoon,  Norman  Tracy." 

The  door  slammed  with  a  crash  and,  simulta 
neously  stepping  forward,  Tracy's  freckled  hand 
closed  on  the  other's  shoulder  with  a  grip  like  a  trap. 

"I  told  you  a  while  ago,"  he  recalled  swiftly,  "  that 
I  wouldn't  quarrel  with  you,  and  I  won't.  I  repeat, 
you're  not  worth  while.  I  won't  even  make  you  take 
back  what  you  just  said."  The  fingers  tightened 
anew  until  involuntarily  Phelps  winced.  "  Even  that 
isn't  worth  while.  Eula  Felkner,  I'm  conscious  I 
mentioned  her  name,  wouldn't  believe  a  word  you 
spoke  on  oath;  while  one  sentence,  a  single  telegram 
and — I  don't  need  to  elaborate.  These  are  degrees 

even  of  cowards,  and  you "  He  was  leading  the 

way  toward  the  exit,  Phelps  following  passively.  "  I 
know  what  you  would  do  if  you  dared,  and  I'm  let 
ting  you  off  easy;  but  don't  ever  show  your  face  to 


132  The  Dissolving  Circle 

me  again.  I  may  not  be  in  as  good  a  mood  next  time. 
When  you  see  me  coming  take  the  other  side  of  the 
street.  Remember  that."  The  grip  loosened  with  a 
suddenness  which  sent  the  other  staggering.  "  Now 
go!" 

•  •  •  •  * 

"  Eula,"  Tracy  smiled  indulgently,  almost  conde 
scendingly,  "  you're  as  transparent  as  plate  glass. 
What  is  it?" 

Again  they  had  gone  through  the  semblance  of  a 
meal,  the  tiny  table  had  been  removed  and  they  were 
alone. 

For  answer  the  girl  shivered  slightly  and  moved 
nearer  a  radiator  in  the  corner.  Tracy,  who  observed 
many  things,  noticed  it  was  darker  there. 

"  Cold,  are  you  ?  "  he  queried  sympathetically.  He 
was  in  excellent  humour  as  he  always  was  when  in  an 
encounter  he  had  spoken  the  last  word.  "  Let  me 
bring  you  a  wrap." 

"  No,  thank  you.    I'm  all  right  now." 

"  Lonesome  then,  eh?  "  The  man  shifted  his  own 
chair  so  he  could  face  her  in  her  new  position. 
"  Something's  wrong,  that's  certain." 

"No,"  again,  "  I  think  not— yet." 

"Not — yet!"  laughingly.  "Sufficient  unto  the 
day — you  know  the  rest.  Just  remember,  girlie,  that 
it  is  to  be  the  one  object  of  my  life  to  prevent — yet 
ever  coming.  Don't  you  believe  me?  " 

"  I — believe  you  think  it  is,"  haltingly. 

Tracy  laughed  again. 


Masquerade  133 

"  If  anyone  else  had  said  that  I  think  I  should  have 
been — ferocious;  yes,  I  know  I  should  have  been.'* 

He  paused  and  his  look  became  serious,  intimate. 

"What,  then,  is  the  trouble,  Eula?  I  have  the 
right  to  ask.  I  wish  to  help  you.  Tell  me." 

"  You  wish  to  help  me,  make  me  happy,  really?  '* 
The  query  was  very  slow,  very  direct 

"  Yes,  girlie." 

"  Why,  then,"  the  girl  was  not  shivering  now,  but 
sitting  very  straight,  very  still,  "  why  then  are  your 
trunks  out  in  the  hall?" 

In  spite  of  himself  the  man's  eyes  dropped.  He 
had  expected  anything  but  this;  and  in  silence  he 
cursed  himself  mentally  not  to  have  thought  of  it, 
to  be  thus  taken  by  surprise.  His  face  reddened  like 
that  of  a  guilty  schoolboy. 

"  Tell  me  why,  please,"  repeated  the  girl  steadily. 

"  Eula !  "  Tracy  had  found  his  tongue  at  last, 
"  Eula." 

"  Don't — now,  please."  The  interrupting  voice 
was  unnaturally  peremptory,  unnaturally  even. 
"  Tell  me." 

Again  Tracy  hesitated.  Again  he  remembered  the 
stake  and  his  gambling  instinct  arose. 

"  I'm  sorry  you  have  no  more  confidence  in  me 
than  your — intimation  shows,"  he  said  coldly.  "  It 
means  that  I  fancied  so  long  as  you  knew  no  one  else 
within  five  hundred  miles  you'd  like  to  have  me  near, 
and  that  in  consequence  I  rented  the  room  next  door 
for  myself.  I  thought  you  wouldn't  feel  so  much 


134  The  Dissolving  Circle 

alone  so.  That  you  would  misunderstand "  He 

turned  away  suddenly.  "  You  hurt  me,  Eula.  You 
don't  know  how  much  you  hurt  me !  " 

Just  perceptibly  the  dainty  little  brown  figure  in 
the  corner  relaxed.  Her  eyes  wandered  to  the  big 
folding  doors  connecting  with  the  adjoining  room,  to 
the  broad  shoulders  of  the  man  her  companion.  The 
back  of  him  trembled  a  bit  as  she  looked. 

"  Norman  Tracy,"  she  voiced  gently,  "  forgive  me 
for  asking  you  again,  for  what  it  seems  to  mean,  but 
as  you  love  me,  is  that  the  whole — truth?  I'd  find 
out  some  time  anyway,  but  I  want  to  know  now, 
now !  " 

"  Eula !"  It  was  a  plea,  a  reproach,  a  cry  of  pain. 
"Eula." 

"  But  answer  me,"  passionately.  "  I  must  hear 
you  say  it." 

Tracy  turned  about,  almost  majestic  in  his  in 
jury. 

"  On  my  word  of  honour,  then,  yes."  He  paused 
and  deliberately  played  his  last  trump.  "  If  you  wish, 
I'll  not  unpack.  I'll  move  back  to  the  hotel  yet  to 
night." 

There  was  a  pause,  a  long  pause,  and  at  the  end 
a  happy  little  intake  of  breath. 

"  Norman,"  there  was  no  repression,  no  suspicion 
in  the  soft  little  figure  now,  "  forgive  me.  Forget 
that  I  asked  you,  I — I  couldn't  help  it.  I'm  so  tiny 
and  you're  so  big  and  strong,  and  my  mother  said  so 
many,  many  things  trying  to  keep  me  from  coming. 


Masquerade  135' 

I — oh,  please  don't  look  at  me  like  that.  I  don't 
doubt  you — really.  I  just  have  to  hear  you  tell  me — 
everything.  I  expect  so  much  of  you,  so  fearfully 
much;  I — I  love  you  so." 

As  once  before  Norman  Tracy  looked  away.  The 
memory  of  that  long  ago,  the  time  he  had  thought 
safely  buried  in  oblivion,  was  tapping  afresh  at  his 
consciousness.  He  frowned — to  prevent  doing  some 
thing  else. 

"  I  repeat,  I  can  still  return  if  you  wish,  if  there 
yet  lingers — — "  He  paused  meaningly. 

"  Norman  1  "  reproachfully. 

"  All  right."  In  pretended  misunderstanding  the 
man  arose  brusquely.  "  I'll  call  a  cab." 

But  the  girl  was  before  him  and  sat  down  on  his 
coat  gleefully. 

"  Norman  Tracy,  you're  a  regular — bear."  She 
looked  at  him  commandingly.  "  You  sit  down  again 
this  minute." 

"  Sit  down,  sir,"  she  repeated  as  he  hesitated,  and 
he  took  his  seat. 

"  Now,"  she  arose  and  smoothed  the  rumpled  top 
coat  daintily,  "  tell  me  all  about  yourself,  what  you're 
doing  here."  She  returned  to  her  former  place  smil 
ingly.  "  It's  my  turn  to  ask  questions  to-night. 

"  You  may  smoke  if  you  wish  to,"  she  granted  as 
he  hesitated.  "  I  don't  mind  tobacco  a  bit." 

Tracy  produced  the  blackest  of  black  Havanas. 

"  Thank  you,"  he  said  enigmatically.  "  What 
would  you  like  to  know  first?  " 


136  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  Just  what  I  asked  you,  please.  The  thing  that's 
keeping  you  here." 

"That?  Oh,  the  mere  telling  is  easy  enough." 
He  had  expected  this  question  and  was  prepared. 
"  Like  everything  else,  in  bare  outline,  the  deal  I 
have  in  course  of  development  is  simple  as  child's 
play.  It's  the  details  beneath  the  surface  that  whiten 
one's  hair." 

The  suggestion  was  portentous,  so  ominous  that 
Eula  Felkner  feared  to  break  it  with  even  a  comment. 
For  a  moment  Tracy  watched  her  shrewdly,  ambig 
uously;  then  of  a  sudden  he  leaned  forward  and  his 
voice  lowered  confidentially. 

"  The  town  here,  Sioux  Falls,  is  like  a  big  awk 
ward  schoolboy  who  has  grown  to  be  a  man  without 
consciousness  of  the  fact.  Again,  like  ancient  Rome, 
it's  scattered  over  the  seven  hills  and  through  the 
valleys  between.  It's  in  crying  need  of  a  street-car 
system;  but  like  the  boy  it  doesn't  realise  its  own 
size,  its  own  possibilities.  That's  what  I'm  banking 
on.  What  keeps  me  awake  nights  is  fear  that  it 
will  wake  up  before  I'm  ready  for  it  to  do  so.  I 
intend  to  give  them  the  line  all  right,  but  I  wish 
them  to  think  it  a  favour  and  make  it  worth  my 
while.  Do  you  see?  " 

41  Yes,  I — think  so."  The  brown  face  was  very 
serious,  very  thoughtful.  "  You  wish  to  get  what  they 
call  in  the  papers  a — corner?  " 

41  Exactly."  The  enigmatic  smile  reappeared  at 
the  answering  flush  of  pleasure.  4<  That's  the  idea 


Masquerade  137 

exactly.  If  they  thought  for  a  second  I  was  really 
anxious  for  the  franchise,  if  I  seemed  in  the  least 
hurry,  appeared  the  smallest  bit  elated  at  the  pros 
pect,  they'd  immediately  be  suspicious  and  either  hold 
the  thing  up  entirely  or  insist  on  making  terms  that 
would  be  impossible.  All  that  I  can  do  is  to  lie  low 
and  play  a  waiting  game;  get  them  impatient  enough 
to  come  to  me." 

The  girl  nodded  her  head  sagely. 

"  I'm  sure  I  understand  now,"  she  averred. 
"  That's  why  you  couldn't  leave  even  for  a  few  days 
to  come  to  Chicago."  She  was  fairly  bubbling  with 
the  conception  of  the  game.  "  You  were  afraid  some 
other  man  with  brains  would  come  in  and  see  the 
opportunity  you  saw — would  get  in  ahead  of  you 
while  you  were  gone !  " 

Tracy  nodded  gravely  and  Eula  Felkner  admired 
him  with  sparkling  eyes. 

v<  You're — wonderful,  Norman,"  she  appreciated, 
"  wonderful!" 

"  Thank  you."  Tracy  blew  a  cloud  of  smoke  with 
the  impassivity  a  great  man  always  exhibits  toward 
mere  material  considerations  however  large.  "  I 
think  you  will  understand  now,  Eula,  why  I  couldn't 
answer  your  question  of  our  marriage  this  afternoon." 
Inspiration  told  him  this  was  his  opportunity  and  he 
grasped  it  by  both  horns.  "  I  can't  let  them  think 
I'm  in  any  way  liable  to  stay  here,  that  I  have  any 
other  interest.  They'd  fancy  they  could  delay — and 
delay  would  be  fatal.  I  wish  them  to  imagine  that 


138  The  Dissolving  Circle 

if  they  don't  hurry  I'm  liable  to  get  tired  at  any  time 
and  leave  them,  take  away  their  only  hope.  I've  got 
to  keep  them  entirely  in  the  dark." 

For  an  instant  there  was  a  pause  and  Tracy  ex 
pected — anything.  Egotist  as  the  man  was  he  could 
hardly  believe  anyone,  even  Eula  Felkner,  would  ac 
cept  such  preposterous  logic;  but  there  was  no  out 
burst  and  confidence  returned. 

'  You  see  for  us  to  marry  now  would  be  impossible. 
I  think — I  hope  they'll  act  soon.  God  knows 
how  badly  I  wish  them  to,  how  I  want  you,  you, 
Eula !  " 

"Do  you  really  want  me  so  much,  Norman?" 
queried  a  tense  little  voice. 

"Eula!"  The  man  was  very  rigid,  very  re 
pressed;  the  fixity  with  which  he  inspected  the  floor 
at  his  feet  most  eloquent. 

"  So  badly  that  you'd  give  up  the  franchise  now, 
would  take  me  instead  if  I  asked  it?  " 

A  seeming  convulsion  shook  the  broad  shoulders. 

"  I'd  never  thought  you  would  ask  it,  Eula." 

"But  if  I  did?"  insistently. 

"  I'd — give  it  up.    Yes,  I'd  give  it  up,  girlie !  " 

Complete  as  was  the  conquest,  the  temptation  was 
too  strong  not  to  carry  it  a  bit  further. 

"  You're  sure  you  wouldn't  regret  it  after — we  be 
came  staid  married  folks,  Norman?" 

"  Yes,  I'm  very  sure  I  wouldn't  regret,  Eula. 
Whatever  I'd  lost  I'd  have — you." 

"  Oh !     Oh !  "  it  was  the  paean  of  a  conqueror, 


Masquerade  139 

something  subtler,  the  unsuspicious  love-note  of  a 
maid,  "  and  to  think  I  could  ever  have  doubted  you ! 
Oh !  I'm  so  happy,  so  happy,  so  happy  I  " 

In  infinite  wisdom  Tracy  held  his  peace.  The  rug 
at  his  feet  was  an  oriental  blending  of  red  and  yellow 
and  green.  He  remembered  that  pattern  as  long  as 
he  lived. 

"  You  " — the  present,  the  glad,  glad  present  had 
returned — "  you  are  ready  to  do  as  I  ask  about  our 
marriage,  whenever  I  ask?  " 

"  Yes,  girlie."  No  voice  could  have  been  more 
abject. 

"  To-morrow  if  I  wish?  " 

"  Yes,"  again. 

The  girl  could  not  be  still.  She  wished  to  dance, 
to  sing.  She  arose,  her  hands  linked  tightly  behind 
her. 

"  Well,"  she  paused  in  giddy  expectation  of  the 
consternation  her  decision  would  bring,  "  well,  we'll 


wait." 


"  Eula,"  at  last  the  man  looked  up,  his  face  all 
surprise  and  relief. 

"  Yes,"  she  wished  to  laugh  aloud  at  the  glad, 
glad  trick  she'd  played  upon  him.  "  Yes,  we'll  wait 

for  the  franchise  and  then,  then "  Her  face 

flamed  at  the  suggestion. 

"  Girlie,"  the  man  arose  impulsively,  "  how  can  I 
ever  repay  you?"  He  started  forward,  his  hands 
outstretched. 

"  No,  no,  not — now."    The  girl  caught  his  look 


140  The  Dissolving  Circle 

and  retreated  unconsciously.  "  You're  so  unselfish. 
You  deserved  it.  I — understand." 

"  But  " — the  other  paused — "  but  you'll  let  me — 
thank  you?  " 

The  brown  head  shook  a  negative. 

"  No,  not  that  way,  to-night.  It's  so  perfect  as 
it  is.  Anything— more  would  be  a  desecration. 
Leave  me  alone  now,  please.  I  wish  to  think 
about  it." 

"  Eula  !  Girlie !  "  The  passion  was  not  histrionic 
this  time. 

But  the  shaking  head,  though  very  joyous,  was 
very  emphatic. 

"  No,  Norman,  not  to-night.  Go  and  unpack, 
please."  She  looked  at  him  with  a  world  of  love 
and  confidence  in  her  brown  eyes.  "  Good-night, 
dear." 

For  five  dragging  seconds  Tracy  stood  as  he  was; 
then  with  a  tightening  of  every  muscle  in  his  body 
he  remembered  the  stake.  Slowly  he  turned.  More 
slowly,  awaiting  at  every  step  a  recall,  he  made  his 
way  to  the  door;  opened  it  reluctantly,  closed  it  with 
a  suppressed  oath.  A  second  later  he  caught  the 
patter  of  soft  little  steps  following  and  waited  ex 
pectant.  Listening  he  heard  a  key  turn  softly  be 
hind  him. 


Chapter  XI 

UNDERSTANDING 

THE  place  was  imperfectly  lighted  by  a  half  score 
of  candles,  and  as  Watson,  again  under  the  surveil 
lance  of  the  airy  French  maid,  entered  the  well- 
remembered  inner  room,  he  at  first  thought  himself 
alone;  then  from  a  partially  shaded  angle  a  woman 
arose. 

"  Dr.  Watson," — she  was  coming  toward  him  and 
he  felt  rather  than  saw  the  fine  harmony  of  the 
perfect-fitting  black  gown,  the  contrast  of  red  here 
and  there  and  the  dazzling  white  of  arms  and 
shoulders, — "  I  am  so  glad  you  came.  I  " — she  took 
his  hand  frankly  and  with  a  friendly  little  smile — 
"  I  was  afraid  after  all  that  at  the  last  moment  you'd 
fail. 

"  Be  as  lazy  and  comfortable  as  you  please."  The 
man  had  voiced  the  amenities  and  from  her  own  seat 
Mrs.  Thurston  indicated  the  big  Turkish  rocker  near, 
premeditatedly  near,  at  hand.  "  At  heart  you  men 
are  all  alike.  After  dark  you'd  rather  lounge  and 
smoke  than  do  anything  else  on  earth." 

"  Thank  you."  Watson  settled  himself  luxuri 
ously,  his  long  clean-shaven  face  with  its  mass  of 
light-brown  hair  above  standing  out  distinct  against 
the  high  black  padding.  "  Apparently  you've  given 
my  sex  careful  study." 

141 


142  The  Dissolving  Circle 

His  companion  smiled  tolerantly. 

"  Certainly.  All  women  do.  The  only  difference 
is  that  some  will  admit  the  fact  while  others  won't. 
A  subject  who  failed  to  at  least  make  an  effort  to 
understand  his  rulers  would  be  very  unwise,  don't 
you  think?" 

The  doctor's  blue  eyes  lifted  whimsically. 

"  I  trust  you  realise  the  tremendous  admission  of 
that  last  sentence,  Mrs.  Thurston?  " 

"  I  most  emphatically  do,"  easily.  "  We're  living 
to-day,  not  a  hundred  years  from  now  and,  subterfuge 
aside,  for  the  present  at  least  man  is  King." 

"  With  powerful  influences  behind  the  throne." 

"  Yes.  That's  where  the  study  of  royal  frailties 
is  of  value.  Those  cigars  on  the  table  are  for  other 
than  decorative  purposes,  doctor." 

Watson  laughed  outright,  a  laugh  to  match  the 
frankness  of  the  wide-set  eyes. 

"  Thank  you  again."  He  helped  himself  deliber 
ately.  "  You  at  least  have  apprehended  my  present 
wish  with  a  certainty  bordering  the  uncanny.  I 
haven't  touched  tobacco  for  a  day." 

"  The  case  you  suggested  as  possible  must  have 
materialised,  I  judge?  " 

"  It  did — forty-eight  hours  late  was  all."  He 
clipped  off  the  head  of  the  cigar  with  his  penknife. 
"  The  family  is  so  poor  that  not  another  doctor  in 
town  could  be  induced  to  approach  them." 

"  And  with  you,  I  gather,"  the  voice  was  enig 
matical,  "remuneration  is  of  slight  consideration?" 


Understanding  143 

"  Paradoxical  as  it  may  seem,  yes.  I  manage 
nevertheless  to  live." 

The  black  eyes  with  the  mockery  in  their  depths 
settled  farther  back  into  the  shadow. 

"  Dr.  Watson,  if  I  ask  you  a  personal  question  will 
you  answer  it  or — stand  me  in  the  corner?  If 
the  latter  I  shall  refrain.  The  experience  is  un 
pleasant." 

"  I  have  partaken  of  your  hospitality  and  your 
Havana  leaf,  Mrs.  Thurston." 

"  Very  well  then."  The  white  arms  made  an  in 
verted  V  as  they  crossed  behind  the  speaker's  head. 
"  What  in  the  name  of  common  sense  are  you  think 
ing  of  when  you  remain  vegetating  in  a  little  place 
like  this?" 

"A  little  place,  Mrs.  Thurston?"  smilingly. 
"  You  should  have  seen  the  town  I  started  in.  It 
had  one  solitary  building  which  was  implement  ware 
house,  and  hardware  shop,  and  post  office,  and  dry 
goods  emporium,  and  grocery,  and  drug  store — where 
they  kept  everything  from  toilet  cases  to  kerosene  oil 
for  the  farmers'  lamps — all  combined.  My  office 
was  there  also." 

"  And  yet  you  left?" 

"  Yes." 

"  And  came  here?" 

"  I  came  here." 

His  companion  eyed  him  meaningly. 

"  You  must  have  had  a  good  reason  for  the 
change?  " 


144  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"I  thought  I  had — when  I  moved."  The  wrinkles 
had  gone  now. 

"You  wouldn't  mind  telling  me  the  incentive?  " 

"  No."    But  he  said  no  more. 

"  Or  perhaps  I  might  guess." 

"  If  you  wish." 

The  white  V  changed  to  normal  as  the  clasped 
hands  returned  to  the  questioner's  lap. 

"  A — woman  couldn't 'well  live  there?  " 

"  You'd  make  a  good  detective,  Mrs.  Thurston. 
No,  a  woman  couldn't  live  there  at  all." 

Of  a  sudden  the  dark  face  appeared  from  out  the 
shadow. 

"  Any  more  than  a  woman  could  live  in  a  tiny 
room  at  the  top  floor  of  a  six-story  office  building?  " 

"  The  cases  are  parallel." 

"  And  still  you're  living  there?  " 

"  Yes.  At  least  for  the  present  that's  where  I 
spend  most  of  my  time." 

Again  there  was  a  meaning  inspection. 

"  You  expect  to  move — up,  to  a  larger  city  again?  " 

"  No.  I  shall  never  practice  medicine  in  another 
city." 

"  You  fancy  your  practice  will  develop — sufficiently 
here?" 

"  I  was  positive  so — when  I  came." 

11  And  now?" 

"  I  never  expect  to  do  more  than  at  the  present." 

The  dark  eyebrows  lifted. 

"You  consider  that  you  have — arrived?" 


Understanding  145 

"  Nothing  is  farther  from  my  thought,  Mrs. 
Thurston." 

Almost  impatiently  his  companion  returned  to  the 
partial  obscurity  of  the  corner. 

"  You  are  not  keeping  your  word,  doctor."  The 
tone  was  a  reproach,  the  implication  a  challenge. 

"  I  repeat  your  Havana  leaf  is  excellent.  The 
fault,  if  fault  there  be,  is  unintentional." 

There  was  a  belligerent  pause  and  again  it  was 
the  woman  who  capitulated. 

"  Technically,"  she  admitted,  "  I  suppose  you're 
right.  You've  answered  every  question;  but  the  real 
why  you  haven't  explained." 

"Why?" 

'"  Yes,  why  you're  living  as  you  are.  Why  you 
have  no  ambition  to  be  more?  " 

"  You  didn't  ask  me  that,  Mrs.  Thurston."  Wat 
son  blew  a  cloud  of  smoke  and  watched  it  lift  to  the 
ceiling  impassively. 

"  Very  well  then,  point  blank,  why  is  it?  " 

"  Equally  directly,"  he  tapped  a  bit  of  ash  free 
on  the  tray,  "  the  incentive  which  brought  me  here, 
which  would  have  made  me  a  success  in  my  line,  has 
departed." 

"  In  other  words  the  woman  is  gone." 

'  Yes."  For  all  the  emotion  in  the  voice  it  might 
have  been  an  acknowledgment  of  the  announcement 
that  dinner  was  served.  "  Yes,  the  woman  is  gone, 
Mrs.  Thurston." 

"  And  the  work  itself  is  insufficient?  " 


146  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  No,  I  can't  admit  that;  but  it's  not  my  work. 
It  was  a  means  to  an  end  and  the  necessity  has  ceased 
to  exist.  It  is  all  very  prosaic." 

The  figure  opposite  changed  position. 

"  You  are  very  young,  Dr.  Watson." 

The  man  said  nothing. 

"And  humorous." 

Still  the  other  held  his  peace. 

"  To  fancy  in  this  day  and  generation  that  the 
necessity  would  never  recur!  Pardon  me.  I  can't 
help  it."  There  was  a  soft  little  repressed  sound 
and  the  handkerchief  disappeared  from  the  lap. 

Slowly  a  half  inch  of  ash  burned  on  the  doctor's 
cigar  and  again  the  brass  holder  rang  softly  as  he 
tapped  it  free.  The  black  eyes  concealed  in  the 
shadow  were  watching  him  intensely,  fixedly,  in  a 
way  they  had  never  watched  a  human  being  before. 
Long  previous,  so  long  that  she  had  forgotten  the 
circumstance,  the  woman's  mood  of  tolerant  amuse 
ment  had  passed. 

"  You  seem  very  sure  of  the  future,  doctor,  of 
yourself." 

"I  am;  absolutely  certain." 

"  Precedent,"  mockingly;  u  the  example  of  others 
seems  to  be  sadly  against  you." 

u  I  am  not  speaking  prophecy  of  others,  Mrs. 
Thurston."  One  of  the  big  hands  spread  palm  up 
ward  on  the  padded  arm.  u  I  neither  am  nor  care 
to  be  my  brother's  keeper." 


Understanding  147 

"  Perhaps  not,  yet  nevertheless  you  condemn  him 
if  he  deviates  from  your  standard." 

"  I  repeat,  if  I  have  offended  it  was  untintentional." 

"  You  mean  to  say,"  the  rapid  voice  fairly  per 
meated  scepticism,  "  that  you  could  live  side  by  side, 
day  after  day,  year  after  year,  with  an  individual  who 
flaunted  your  every  ideal  of  propriety  and  not  de 
nounce  such  a  person?" 

"  So  long  as  the  ideals  of  me  and  mine  were  un 
disturbed,  yes." 

"And  if  they  were?" 

"  I  am  human.    There  would  be  a  reckoning." 

The  woman  came  wholly  into  the  light,  remained 
there. 

"  Dr.  Watson,"  she  challenged,  "  you're  more 
than  merely  young.  You're  a  child." 

Answering  the  faintest  suggestion  of  a  smile  sprang 
into  the  wide  blue  eyes;  but  that  was  all. 

"  You  mean  to  say  that  you  could  accept  another 
person,  me,  for  instance,  on  trust,  without  knowledge 
of  a  single  past  incident  in  my  life,  entirely  ignorant 
of  the  possible  defection  which  might  have  brought 
me  here,  without  assurance  that  I  had  not  committed 
the  supreme  sin  of  woman,  could  accept  me  as  a 
friend " 

'*  Your  pardon,  I  explained " 

"  As  an  acquaintance,  then,"  grudgingly,  "  and  not 
even  ask  me  to  justify  myself,  swear  that  I  was — 
innocent?  " 


148  The  Dissolving  Circle 

**  Yes.  Morals  are  the  essentially  individual 
things."  He  emphasised  the  article. 

"  And  you  would  not  then  or  ever  after  be  even 
curious?  " 

"  Is  it  so  wonderful?"  The  smile  was  positive 
now. 

"  Wonderful!  "  The  great  arteries  throbbed  vis 
ibly  in  the  brown  throat.  "  It's  unbelievable.  You're 
a  dreamer!  " 

Her  companion  only  eyed  her  smilingly. 

"  To  satisfy  my  curiosity,"  swiftly,  "  I'd  like  to 
know  the  philosophy  of  life  of  a  person  who  believes 
he  believes  such  things." 

"  It's  very  simple,  Mrs.  Thurston.  I  can  put  it 
in  a  sentence.  Do  not  make  yourself  obnoxious  to 
others." 

"Is  that  all!"  The  red  lips  tilted  visibly. 
"  You'd  ignore  love,  and  happiness — the  things  every 
human  being  has  sought  for  since  the  day  of  Adam 
and  Eve?" 

"  No,  assuredly  I'd  not  ignore  them;  but  I 
wouldn't  be  a  rainbow  hunter  and  search  deliberately 
for  something  which  never  comes  consciously.  I'd 
do  something  and  do  it  so  hard  that  I'd  forget  my 
self,  and  in  the  eternal  fitness  of  things  both  would 
come;  or  if  they  did  not  I'd  never  notice  the  lack." 

"  You  say  this,"  defiance  was  in  the  eyes,  mockery 
in  the  voice.  "  You  who  have  just  admitted  you  were 
doing  nothing?  " 

"  It  shall  not  be  so  always,  Mrs.  Thurston." 


Understanding  149 

For  a  moment  the  woman  looked  at  him  dumbly, 
as  though  she  saw  an  element. 

"  Are  you  merely  yourself,"  she  queried  slowly, 
"  or  are  you  the  normal  here,  the  Western  type?  " 

Involuntarily  the  long  figure  straightened.  The 
great  bushy  head  tilted  back.  The  broad  chest 
widened. 

"  I,  Mrs.  Thurston?  "  He  looked  away.  "  I  am 
not  a  type  of  anything.  I'm  merely  the  faintest  re 
flection  of  something  every  man  who  has  spent  most 
of  his  life  on  the  prairies  understands,  something 
which  if  you  will  go  out  some  night  alone,  a  hundred 
miles  from  another  human  being,  under  the  stars, 
with  the  silence  infinite  all  about  you,  you  too  will 
understand.  It's  the  attitude  the  men  who  first 
builded  this  town,  who  first  staked  out  their  claims, 
caught  in  measure  as  they  were  capable.  Inevitably 
a  very  little  of  the  same  spirit  lives  here  yet,  will 
continue  to  live  for  generations.  It's  the  tolerance  of 
man  for  every  other  man;  the  tolerance  instinctively 
caught  from  the  example  of  mother  nature."  As 
suddenly  as  it  had  roused  the  long  figure  relaxed  and 
he  took  up  a  fresh  cigar. 

"  With  your  permission,  Mrs,  Thurston,"  he  di 
gressed  unemotionally,  "  I'll  smoke  again.  Frankly, 
I'm  not  accustomed  to  this  grade  of  tobacco."  He 
eyed  the  long  perfecto  in  his  fingers  equivocally. 
"  It's  spell  is  irresistible." 

Apparently  his  companion  did  not  hear  him.  She 
was  looking  straight  past — and  at  nothing. 


150  The  Dissolving  Circle 

'  Tolerance  " — she  repeated  his  motif  absently, 
meditatively — u  tolerance  " — with  her  the  suggestion 
carried  no  meaning  in  the  abstract;  its  application  was 
instinctively  concrete;  "lack  of  tolerance,  yes,  that's 
the  trouble,  the  stumbling  block,  the  unpardonable 
sin;  unreasoning,  colossal,  egotistic  intolerance!  But 
give  that  attitude  human  form,  the  form  of  a  man 
and — God!1"  She  was  silent. 

Bruce  Watson  smoked  on  without  comment.  The 
storm  was  inevitable — sometime ;  as  well  it  came  now 
as  later.  Moreover,  the  atmosphere  was  always 
clearer  thereafter.  He  waited. 

"  Doctor,"  it  had  come  very  quickly,  he  felt  the 
first  breath  in  the  tense  voice,  "  you  won't  ask  me 
why  I'm  here,  so  I'm  going  to  tell  you,  going  to  draw 
the  story  in  by  the  ears,  for  I  wish  you  to  know  now 
before  we  get  any  better — acquainted."  She  was  ob 
serving  him  for  a  clew,  but  there  was  none  and  her 
colour  heightened. 

"I'm  not — bad;  I  won't  admit  it  to  anyone.  I 
don't  expect  the  impossible  of  life.  I  ceased  long  ago 
to  dream.  I'm  simply  a  woman,  a  living  woman, 
with  red  blood,  like  a  man,  in  my  arteries,  with  a  rest 
lessness,  again  like  a  man,  dogging  me  night  and 
day."  One  of  the  white  arms  flung  out  rebelliously. 
She  drew  a  long  breath. 

"  I  won't  insult  you  by  asking  you  if  you  ever  had 
a  romance  in  your  own  life,  if  you  can  understand. 
I'll  merely  begin  by  saying  I  had  mine  and  married, 
as  any  other  girl  under  the  same  conditions  would 


Understanding  151 

have  done.  I  was  in  love,  desperately  so,  I  fancied ;  it 
was  eight  years  ago,  and  I  was  a  mere  girl.  I  thought 
Mr.  Thurston,  Elmer,  was  a  god.  He  filled  my 
horizon  completely.  We  had  jwst  met  and  he  was 
always  with  me,  always  planning  some  amusement, 
some  pleasure  in  common.  We  travelled  for  a  couple 
of  months — it  was  all  the  conventional  thing,  as 
neither  of  us  lacked  money — and  were  perfectly 
happy;  at  least  I  was.  I  never  thought  of  the  future, 
the  present  was  wholly  adequate,  wholly  satisfy 
ing.''  She  paused  again,  her  hands  folded  in  her 
lap. 

"  You'll  pardon  me  a  bit  for  being  a — bore,  doc 
tor?  I  repeat  I  must  tell  you?" 

No  answer  was  expected  and  none  given. 

"  We  returned  and  Mr.  Thurston  took  up  his  life 
where  he  had  left  off — before  I  entered  his  scheme 
of  things.  He  was  very  consistent  about  it,  all  brok 
ers  are,  very  exemplary.  No  one  could  have  ex 
pected  him  to  alter  his  scheme  to  meet  my  needs," 
the  nostrils  widened  unconsciously,  u  the  needs  of  a 
mere  woman;  but  from  the  very  day  of  return  we 
commenced  to  drift  apart.  He  began  going  down 
town  early,  and  returning  early  or  late  as  the  case 
might  be.  Evenings,  to  be  sure,  we  went  to  things — 
when  he  was  free;  but  like  the  majority  of  men  he 
branded  society  useless  and  the  theatre  tiresome. 
More  and  more  he  came  to  be  not  at  liberty.  He 
was  consistent  perfectly,  there  was  always  an  excuse,  a 
good  excuse,  but  in  result  we  saw  each  other  less  and 


152  The  Dissolving  Circle 

less,  became  in  consequence  less  and  less  friends. " 
The  full  red  lips  curled  at  the  memory.  "  The  same 
thing  has  occurred  I  suppose  a  million  times  before, 
will  continue  recurring  to  the  end." 

Again  it  was  not  a  pause  which  demanded  or  an 
ticipated  comment. 

"  I  suppose,"  went  on  the  voice,  "  if  I'd  been  as 
he  took  it  for  granted  I  was,  as  the  years  went  by 
I'd  have  conformed,  have  done  all  the  inane  con 
ventional  things  women  of  leisure  do  to  kill  time; 
but  instead  I  rebelled.  The  idea  of  a  god  had  passed 
— I  was  growing  wiser;  but  a  friend  at  least  I  de 
manded,  I  would  have.  I  told  him  this  and  he  smiled. 
The  mere  suggestion  that  he  had  been  otherwise 
struck  him  as  humorous.  I  requested,  more  than  re 
quested,  pleaded,  for  a  return  to  the  first  comradery. 
I  didn't  give  up  without  a  struggle — and  his  eyebrows 
lifted  at  the  fantastic  notion  of  neglecting  business. 
I  swore  that  unless  he  did,  if  he  wouldn't  alter  his 
life  as  I'd  altered  mine,  I'd — I  don't  know  what 
I  said  I'd  do,  I  was  reckless,  but  at  least  it  wasn't  a 
promise  of  anything  conventional — and  he  smiled 
again.  He  didn't  believe  me.  In  his  egotism  it  never 
occurred  to  him  that  I  was  flesh  and  blood  like  he 
himself,  that  the  same  restless  activity  which  with 
him  found  vent  in  the  intensity  of  business,  the  ex 
citement  of  Exchange,  must  in  my  case  find  some  vent 
likewise.  It  was  all  a  tempest  in  a  teapot.  He 
wouldn't  even  discuss  the  suggestion  seriously.  If  I 
was  enough  of  a  child  to  cry  for  the  moon,  obviously 


Understanding  153 

there  was  but  one  thing  to  do,  and  he  did  it.  He 
went  downtown  and  left  me  alone.1' 

"  In  which  condition,"  enigmatically,  "  you  didn't 
remain  long,  I  anticipate?" 

Again  the  woman  searched  the  listener  for  a  clew, 
but  the  long  face  was  a  mask. 

"  Yes,"  the  fire  had  for  the  moment  left  the  voice, 
"  you're  right.  I  didn't  remain  alone  long.  I  re 
member  the  night,  although  it  was  two  years  ago, 
as  distinctly  as  yesterday.  It  was  right  after  dinner, 
much  earlier  than  this,  that  Mr.  Thurston  left,  and 
in  five  minutes  I'd  laid  my  plans.  I  sent  for  a  man 
I  knew — who  he  was  is  immaterial,  but  at  least  he 
was  nothing  to  me  then  or  ever  after,  for  in  spite  of 
everything  there  was  still  but  one  man  in  my  world — 
and  was  dressing  feverishly.  When  he  came,  very 
mystified,  I  explained  what  I  wished  and — God  " — 
no  apathy  in  the  voice  now — "  God,  what  an  opinion 
you  rulers  have  of  your  subjects!  His  expression 
stands  out  like  a  cameo  on  my  memory  now.  I  al 
most  lost  courage.  And  we  went  away  together; 
downtown  too.  What  we  did,  like  the  identity  of  the 
man  himself,  is  immaterial.  We  went  to  the  theatre, 
and  to  Rector's  afterward,  and  dined  and  wined.  It 
was  all  commonplace,  except  that  I  was  married  and 
he  was  not — which  perhaps  isn't  so  uncommon  either. 
I  was  a  good  companion — I  think;  leastways  I  played 
the  part  so  well  that  he  never  suspected  me,  and  at 
last  when  it  was  late, — or  early, — sufficiently,  we 
returned.  Out  of  the  carriage  window  as  we  came  up 


154  The  Dissolving  Circle 

the  avenue  I  could  see  a  light  in  the  library  and  I 
knew  Elmer  had  come  home  and  was  waiting  for 
me. 

"  What  followed  you  can  imagine — no,  you  can't ! 
This  wasn't  a  scene  in  a  play.  It  was  real,  real ;  real 
as  life.  I  didn't  stop  for  anything,  but  went  right 
up  the  stairs  and  walked  in.  He  was  sitting,  lounging 
as  you  are,  only  in  evening  clothes,  and  smoking. 
There  were  the  stumps  of  two  other  cigars  on  the 
tray  beside  him.  I  noticed  them  and  knew  that  he'd 
been  waiting  for  some  time.  He  didn't  have  a  book 
or  a  magazine  or  even  a  paper.  He  hadn't  been 
doing  a  thing  but  wait.  I  took  off  my  hat  deliberately 
and  tossed  my  cloak  over  a  chair,  and  he  made  no 
comment.  There  was  another  seat  opposite  and  I 
sat  down  facing  him.  The  minutes  flew — I  was  not 
contrite  nor  afraid — and  neither  of  us  said  anything, 
merely  looked  at  each  other.  He  fancied,  I  could 
read  him  like  a  book,  that  I  would  give  in,  would 
explain,  would  beg  his  pardon,  would  at  least  make  a 
scene ;  but  I'd  gotten  beyond  that.  The  cigar  he  was 
smoking  was  becoming  hot,  he  never  burned  them 
over  halfway,  and  he  tossed  it  aside  for  a  fresh 
one.  Of  a  sudden  at  the  motion  I  had  an  inspira 
tion. 

"  '  Elmer,'  I  indicated  the  holder  as  though  it  were 
the  sugar  canister,  *  will  you  please  give  me  a — cigar 
ette.' 

"  He  looked  up  as  though  he  hadn't  caught  my 
request. 


Understanding  155 

"  *  A  cigarette,  please,'  I  repeated. 

"  He  understood  then,  perfectly.  I  smile  when  I 

think  of  the  time  now,  but  at  the  moment The 

whole  of  the  man,  his  innermost  self,  the  unreasoning, 
colossal,  egotistic  intolerance,  heritage  of  his  ances 
tors,  augmented  generation  after  generation  until  it 
culminated  in  him,  spoke  in  the  look  he  gave  me. 
Up  to  that  moment  I  had  hoped,  had  almost  be 
lieved,  we  would  sometime  understand  each  other, 
would  become,  if  not  as  at  first,  at  least  good  friends; 
but  on  the  instant  that  dream  ended.  Until  that 
second,  I  think,  yes,  I  know,  I  still  cared  for  him. 
I  was  willing  for  anything,  any  abjection,  if  he'd 
only  come  halfway,  a  fraction  of  the  way  even;  but 
that  too  was  hopeless.  For  a  half  minute  while  we 
sat  staring  each  other  like  figures  in  a  pantomime  I 
grew  cold,  cold  as  death,  for  I  saw  the  future  like  a 
flash;  then  the  mood  shifted  and  I  could  feel  the  hot 
blood  boil.  They  say  hate  is  very  near  to  love,  and 
I  believe  it.  I  hated  him  that  moment  as  I  had — 
cared  for  him  at  first.  I  smiled,  deliberately,  mock 
ingly  fair  into  his  eyes. 

"  *  You  should  consult  an  aurist,  Mr.  Thurston,' 
I  advised,  speaking  a  bit  louder.  *  I've  already  re 
quested  twice  that  you  hand  me  a  cigarette.  The 
holder,  I  see,  is  full.' 

"  He  complied  then.  Lord,  it  was  a  beautiful 
farce !  A  stage  manager  would  become  independent 
if  he  could  reproduce  it.  I  had  never  smoked  be 
fore  in  my  life  nor  ever  have  since.  I  hate  tobacco 


156  The  Dissolving  Circle 

as  you  men  love  it;  but  I  burned  that  cigarette  to  the 
bitter  end,  as  though  it  was  my  customary,  hourly 
pastime — and  he,  Elmer,  watched  me.  His  own  cigar 
had  gone  out  and  the  fact  never  occurred  to  him. 
I  didn't  say  another  word,  nor  did  he.  Elmer  was 
always  too  much  of  a  gentleman — save  the  mark — 
or  whatever  needs  saving — to  quarrel.  He  merely 
looked  at  me.  At  the  end  I  got  up,  I  was  a  bit  dizzy 
and  wished  to  be  away,  and  took  up  my  hat  and 
opera  cloak. 

"  '  Good-night,'  I  said. 

u  4  Good-night/  he  repeated,  and  as  I  went  out  the 
door  he  was  still  watching  me  with  that  same  dumb 
expression  of  his  ancestors  on  his  face." 

The  narrative  paused  as  though  that  were  the  end, 
and  the  speaker  looked  at  the  long,  figure  before  her 
expectantly,  peremptorily.  Watson  understood. 

"  And  after  that "  he  suggested. 

"  There  was  nothing  after  that,"  monotonously. 
"  We  dragged  on  side  by  side  ^like  enemies  for  two 
years.  When  in  company  we  talked  of  commonplace 
things.  When  alone  he  drew  into  his  shell  like  a 
terrapin.  I  couldn't  get  a  sentence  out  of  him.  I 
stood  it  as  long  as  I  could, — the  wonder  is  it  was  so 
long, — until  I  hated  the  conventions — as  they  apply 
to  women — the  intolerance,  as  completely  as  the  man 
who  stood  for  them.  Then  I  came  here." 

"And  he,  Mr.  Thurston  ?  " 

"  He  would  have  gone  on  the  same  until  death,  I 
think.  He  had  nothing  whatever  to  lose."  She 


Understanding  157 

smiled  bitterly.  "  The  city  is  very  kind  and  satisfy 
ing  to  man — if  he  has  money." 

Watson  said  nothing.  Again  he  awaited  the  in 
evitable — and  as  before  it  came  very  swiftly. 

"  You  have  heard  the  story,  every  bit  of  it."  The 
colour  had  returned  to  the  dark  face  and  the  black 
eyes  were  very  bright.  "  Will  it  make  any  differ 
ence  with  our  acquaintance?  " 

"Why  should  it?" 

"  Nor  prevent  your  calling  again  if  I  request?  " 

"  No,  not  if  you  request." 

Even  yet  his  companion  was  unsatisfied. 

"  You — who  know,  don't  agree  with  your — best 
people,  who  think  me  bad?"  Despite  her  vaunted 
indifference  she  was  still  elementally  feminine. 
"Isn't  it  so?" 

"  I  repeat,  Mrs.  Thurston,  morals  are  the  essen 
tially  individual  things.  I  believe  one's  own  self- 
respect  is  the  supreme  tribunal." 

"  Yes,  yes,"  the  heavy  brows  were  tightened  im 
patiently,  "  I  know,  but  I  wish  your  own  opinion, 
I  can't  ask  you  here  again  without  it." 

"  You  have  already  answered  your  question.  I 
accept  your  assurance." 

Again  the  woman  looked  at  him  as  though  she  had 
discovered  an  element,  for  so  long  that  at  last  Wat 
son  straightened  to  go.  Then  of  a  sudden  he 
leaned  back  again. 

u  You  did  me  the  honour,"  he  digressed,  u  to  inti 
mate  that  I  interested  you,  Mrs.  Thurston.  I'm 


158  The  Dissolving  Circle 

going  to  return  the  compliment."  He  paused  and 
the  blue  eyes  tightened  whimsically.  u  Why,  with 
the  indifference  to  conventionality  that  you  feel,  did 
you  care  to  seek  the  boon  vouchsafed  to  all  suppli 
ants  here?  " 

"Why!"  genuine  surprise  was  in  the  voice. 
"  Why,  you're  humorous  again.  What  do  the  hun 
dreds  of  others  come  here  for?  I  came  because  I 
didn't  care  to  degrade  myself  by  producing  the  kind 
of  evidence  I'd  have  to  secure  against  Mr.  Thurston 
at  home." 

"  Certainly;  but  why  produce  it?  " 

"Why  be— free?" 

u  Yes.  I  can  understand  the  motive  of  Phelps, 
for  instance,  or  of  little  Mrs.  Stuart  on  the  floor 
below,  with  her  Southern  colonel  and  his  goatee;  but 
you "  He  paused. 

Involuntarily  Mrs.  Thurston  arose.  Equally  in 
voluntarily  her  lips  curled. 

"  Do  you  fancy,  Dr.  Watson,  after  all  I've  told 
you,  after  what  I  know  of  marriage,  that  when  I  get 
back  my  own  name  once  more,  after  I'm  legally  free, 
that  I'm  sufficiently  lack-wit  to  step  into  the  trap 
again?"  She  was  superb  in  her  sarcasm,  her  re 
bellion.  "  I  can't  believe  it." 

"  It  was  but  an  hour  ago,  you  remember,"  the 
speaker  was  still  smiling  inscrutably,  "  that  you 
averred  all  emotions  repeat  themselves,  were  supe 
rior  to  experience." 

"  Granted,  and  I  was  never  farther  from  disbc- 


Understanding  159 

lief  than  now.  Doctor  " — very  gradually  her  face 
broadened  into  the  most  complex  of  smiles — "  Doc 
tor,  you  grow  younger  and  younger.  You're  a  mere 
babe." 

"  Perhaps."  Of  a  sudden  the  blue  eyes  were  in 
scrutably  clear  as  a  prairie  sky.  "  I  " — he  arose,  de 
cisively  this  time — u  I  merely  wished  to  know." 

His  companion  caught  the  motion  and  the  smile 
disappeared. 

'*  You're  not  going  now?  " 

"  Yes,  it's  growing  late." 

"Late?" 

"  And  I've  been  a  long  time  away  from  the  office. 
There  might  be  another  call,  you  know.  I'm  becom 
ing  hopeful." 

A  moment  the  woman  observed  him  in  silence; 
then  the  suggestion  of  a  frown  which  had  appeared 
between  the  black  brows  vanished. 

"  Very  well."  She  led  the  way  to  the  corridor. 
"  Au  revoir." 


Chapter  XII 

THE    ANCESTRAL    CALL 

WHEN  Norman  Tracy  entered  Mrs.  Waldow's  cosy 
little  front  room,  Eula  Felkner's  room,  it  was  with  a 
step  a  shade  unsteady  and  an  exaggerated  deliberation 
and  precision  of  movement.  Though  it  was  evening 
and  the  single  Welsbach  light  burned  brightly,  the 
shades  fronting  the  street  were  up,  and  with  an  air  of 
proprietorship,  almost  of  irritation,  he  drew  them 
one  after  the  other  shut.  Ordinarily  as  he  flung  him 
self  into  a  seat  he  would  have  offered  an  explanation 
of  the  action,  a  facetious  one  probably,  yet  at  least 
a  justification  more  or  less  of  the  liberty  taken;  but 
this  night  he  did  not.  Instead  for  a  long  minute 
he  sat  silent  in  his  place,  his  red  face,  decidedly 
flushed,  resting  in  the  palm  of  a  redder  freckled  hand. 

"  Eula,"  he  initiated  at  last  abruptly,  "  do  you  re 
member  what  happened  two  weeks  ago  to-day?  " 

"  Yes."  The  girl  fingered  the  book  in  her  lap 
which  she  had  laid  down  at  his  entrance — a  new 
novel  he  had  bought  for  her  in  the  morning.  "  I 
came  to  Sioux  Falls  just  half  a  month  ago  this  noon." 

"  You  haven't,  after  all,  forgotten  the  time,  then?  " 
The  voice  was  equivocal.  "  I  thought  perhaps  you 
had." 

160 


The  Ancestral  Call  161 

"  The  idea  I  "  Unsuspecting,  the  brown  eyes 
were  still  fastened  demurely  on  the  brilliant  cover. 
"  I  couldn't  forget  if  I  wished.  They've  been  the 
biggest,  fullest  two  weeks  I  ever  spent  in  my  life.  I 
have  to  count  back  daily  to  convince  myself  it's  not 
been  two — years." 

The  man  opposite  eyed  her  steadily,  relentlessly. 
The  alcohol  in  his  brain  perverted  the  appeal  of  the 
heightened  colour  on  her  cheeks. 

"  Has  it  seemed  so  long,  then,  so  long  in  spite  of 
anything  I  could  do  ?  " 

"  Norman !  "  reproachfully. 

"You  just  said — two  years;  certainly " 

"  Norman  Tracy,"  she  paused  to  decide  whether 
or  not  she  was  in  earnest,  "  you  always  persist  in  mis 
understanding;  just  to  hear  me  protest,  I  think.  They 
were  long  because  I've  lived  so  much  in  them,  be 
cause  I've  been  so  " — the  red  flame  mounted  higher 
and  higher — "  so  completely,  unbelievably  happy." 

"  Happy!  "  Unconsciously  the  lashless  eyes  caught 
the  glow.  "  Happy,  Eula?" 

"  Yes."  The  girl  turned  away.  "  Yes,  happy, 
Norman." 

"  Why,  girlie?  "  He  was  mercilessly  insistent  for 
the  confession.  "  Tell  me  why." 

The  lobe  of  the  tiny  ear  turned  toward  his  fairly 
burned. 

"  Why?  You  ask  such  foolish  questions.  Isn't  it 
enough  that  I  have  you  all  to  myself,  you,  with  no 
one  else  between?  " 


162  The  Dissolving  Circle 

The  freckled  hands  folded  in  the  man's  lap  as  he 
straightened  in  his  seat. 

"  You  are  satisfied,  then,  perfectly  satisfied;  find  the 
present,  your  life,  everything  wholly  adequate?" 

"  Yes."  The  brown  head  nodded  emphatic  con 
firmation.  "  Yes,  I  don't  dare  think  I'm  so  happy. 
I'm  hoping  it'll  be  like  this  always." 

"  And  I,"  the  voice  was  very  low,  very  intimate, 
"and  I,  Eula?" 

"  And  you !  "  The  girl  wheeled  half  about. 
"And  you?  I  don't  think  I  understand." 

The  lids  dropped  a  bit  over  the  man's  eyes. 

"  Have  you  never  been  hungry,  girlie?  " 

"  A  very  little."  She  was  observing  him  wonder- 
ingly.  "  At  outings  sometimes " 

"  Never  for  a  day  even  ?  " 

"  Yes,  once,"  the  mystery  increased,  "  before  papa 
tdied.  We  went  on  a  picnic  early  in  the  morning  and 
the  baskets  were  missent.  I  remember " 

"Just  recall  that  day,  then,  and  multiply  it  by 
fourteen,"  he  looked  at  her  meaningly,  "  the  time 
you've  been  here.  Do  you  understand?" 

The  brown  eyes  wavered,  though  she  tried  to  hold 
them  steady.  Yes,  she  understood — now. 

u  I'd  never  thought  of  you  as  being  that  way  at  all, 
Norman,"  she  halted.  "  I've  taken  it  for  granted 
that  you  were  like  myself,  perfectly  content." 

The  leaven  was  working  and  the  man  held  his 
peace.  He  even  took  a  sort  of  gambler's  pleasure 
in  speculating  what  she  of  her  own  will  would 
offer. 


The  Ancestral  Call  163 

"  I  suppose,  now  that  I  think  of  it,"  she  was  turning 
the  pages  of  the  book  unconsciously,  swiftly,  "  I  have 
seemed  a  bit — distant  to  you.  But  I  didn't  mean  it 
that  way,  Norman."  She  essayed  a  timid  glance. 
"  I  want  to  do  what  you  wish.  I — oh,  it's  so  hard  for 

a  girl  to  speak  what  I  wish  to  say I  trust  you 

so,  and  still — I  can't  explain  it  at  all."  She  was 
winking  furiously,  and  yet  the  tears  gathered  per 
force.  "  I  do  so  wish  to  be — good!  " 

Still  Tracy  made  no  comment ;  but  the  girl  did  not 
dare  to  look  up — then.  Down  in  the  depths  of  her 
consciousness,  hidden  even  from  herself,  the  fact  re 
mained  that  this  man  dominated  her  absolutely,  to 
the  exclusion  of  reason,  of  self-respect,  of  inherited 
ideals  of  right  and  wrong;  and  like  a  trapped  wild 
thing  she  was  afraid.  She  dried  her  eyes  with  little 
pats  of  the  tightly  rolled  handkerchief.  She  must 
be  doing  something;  the  silence  and  inaction  were  in 
tolerable. 

"  I'm  so  sorry  you're  not  happy,  Norman,"  she 
groped  in  repetition.  "  I  wish  I  could  do  something 
more  for  you  than  I'm  doing.  I'll  be  so  glad  when 
these  men  give  you  your  franchise,  when  we  can  be 
married — can  be  together  all  the  time." 

Unconsciously  Tracy  smiled,  the  inscrutable  smile 
of  a  gambler  who  has  drawn  to  a  flush  when  he  looks 
at  his  lone  card.  At  last  this  was  the  proffer.  She 
would  be  so  glad  when  they  could  be  together  all  the 
time;  and  that  after  two  whole  weeks  of  waiting 
and  repression;  of  repression  which  was  far  from 
easy !  He  leaned  forward,  his  chin  in  his  palm. 


164  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  Is  that  all  you  can  offer,  Eula,  all  to  a  hungry 
man  who  loves  you,  whom  you  love  ?  " 

The  girl  hesitated.  In  many  ways  he  had  asked 
this  same  question  before,  in  words  or  otherwise; 
but  never  as  at  this  time,  with  this  insistence. 

"  What  is  it  you  wish  me  to  say,  Norman?  n  she 
temporised.  "  Perhaps " 

"  To  say!"  The  red  face  flamed  menacingly 
above  the  freckled  hand.  "  What  does  a  hungry 
man  care  for  words?  He  can't  eat  them.  You're 
not  child  enough  to  be  ignorant  yet  of  what  I  want, 
Eula !  " 

"  Yes,"  she  was  battling  desperately  for  time,  for 
time  to  think — and  she  couldn't  think,  "  yes — I  be 
lieve  I  am." 

A  moment  the  man  looked  at  her;  then  he  arose 
deliberately. 

'  Very  well."  He  was  coming  forward  more  un 
steadily  than  before.  The  room  was  very  warm. 
"  I  can't  believe  you  so  dense,  but  nevertheless  I'll 
repeat."  He  paused  oratorically.  u  It's  you,  Eula, 
I  want,  you  yourself,  the  physical  as  well  as  the  men 
tal  you."  He  fairly  towered  over  her  as  she  sat  be 
low.  "  You've  dandled  me  at  arm's  length  as  long 
as  you  can,  as  long  as  I'll  stand  to  be  kept  there.  All 
patience  has  a  limit,  and  I've  come  to  mine."  Of  a 
sudden  his  arms  dropped,  his  hands  met  and  he  held 
her  like  a  vise. 

"  What  I  want  is  this,  and  this,  and  this!  " 


The  Ancestral  Call  165 

"  Norman,"  pleadingly  muffled,  "  Norman 
Tracy 

"  And  this,  and  this !  " 

"  Oh,"  as  suddenly  again  the  girl  was  free,  and  she 
covered  her  face  with  her  hands,  "  oh,  oh!  " 

The  man  stepped  away,  but  did  not  again  sit  down. 
He  merely  looked  at  her  and  waited.  When  at  last 
she  glanced  up  he  was  smiling. 

"  Don't  ask  me  again,  please,  what  I  want,  Eula," 
he  said.  "  You  know  now." 

Again  there  was  a  pause  for  so  long  that  Tracy 
started  walking  impatiently  back  and  forth. 

"  Eula,"  he  had  stopped  and  the  smile  vanished, 
"  in  Heaven's  name,  how  much  longer  do  you  wish 
to  keep  up  this  farce?  We  may  as  well  understand 
each  other  right  now." 

"  Farce  1  "  The  girl  looked  up  and,  much  as  he 
would  have  liked  to  do  so,  the  man  could  not  doubt 
her  ignorance,  her  innocence — "  farce,  Norman?  " 

"  Yes,  farce,"  irritably.  "  You  know  as  well  as  I 
what  our  living  here  together  signifies,  what  every 
body  who  knows  of  our  being  here  thinks." 

"  You  don't  mean "  She  paused.  Realisa 
tion  was  coming  too  fast. 

"  Most  certainly  I  do  mean " 

"  Even  our  landlady,  Mrs.  Waldow?  " 

Tracy  laughed  shortly.  He  was  finding  the  ac 
tual  disillusionment  more  unpleasant  even  than  he 
had  anticipated.  But  it  was  essential — sometime,  he 


166  The  Dissolving  Circle 

consoled  himself  with  the  thought;  only  he  wished 
he  had  prepared  with  a  little  more — rye. 

"  Ask  her,  if  you  doubt  me." 

The  girl  arose  and  stood  facing  him,  her  hands  be 
hind  her  clutching  the  top  of  the  reading  table. 

"  No,  I  won't  ask  her.  I  understand  her — manner 
now."  Of  a  sudden  the  tiny  brown  figure  was 
steady,  unbelievably  steady.  Temporarily  fear  of  the 
man  before  her  had  passed.  With  the  fading  of  dis 
illusionment  another  thing  had  also  vanished  never  to 
return:  her  girlhood.  She  had  become  a  woman. 
As  a  woman  she  looked  at  her  companion  open- 
eyed. 

"  Yes,"  she  said  quietly.  "  I  think  you're  right. 
We  may  as  well  understand  each  other  now."  She 
stopped  to  moisten  her  lips,  but  the  words  came  even 
as  the  lines  of  a  play.  "  I  see,  after  all,  I've  been  a 
child,  an  innocent,  a — what  my  mother  said  I  was 
when  I  left;  but  that  doesn't  help  at  the  present. 
That  I  thought  I  was  good,  that  I  trusted  you  abso 
lutely,  doesn't  count  either.  The  thing  to  know  is 
just  how  much  of  a  dupe  I  have  been,  how  much  of 
you  is  true,  and — and  start  from  there." 

She  paused,  and,  despite  the  effrontery  of  partial 
intoxication,  Tracy  observed  her  almost  with  open 
mouth.  He  even  felt  a  childish  desire  to  pinch  him 
self  to  see  if  he  were  really  awake,  to  make  sure  that 
this  self-controlled  little  brown  woman  facing  him  was 
really  the  helpless,  unsophisticated  Eula  Felkner  of  a 
quarter  hour  before. 


The  Ancestral  Call  167 

"  And  start  from  there,"  she  repeated  monoto 
nously. 

Norman  Tracy  awoke.  In  his  composite  egotisti 
cal  nature  one  emotion  was  never  long  absent,  recurred 
as  inevitably  as  individual  incidents  occurred:  anger, 
mild  or  intense — and  it  came  now.  The  exact  reason 
for  its  coming,  the  explicit  offence  to  be  resented,  he 
could  not  have  given,  did  not  even  try  to  analyse. 
He  only  knew  that  every  spark  of  contrition  he  had 
felt  at  the  sight  of  Eula  at  his  mercy  vanished  with 
Eula  on  the  defensive. 

"  Yes,  I  agree  with  you,"  he  satirised.  "  It'll  be 
well  for  both  of  us  to  forget  the  past  and  start  anew 
from  the  present."  His  look  became  the  leer  of  the 
mildly  inebriate.  "What,  if  you  please,  are  you 
going  to  do  about  it?  " 

The  tiny  brown  figure  stiffened,  her  face  whitened. 
If  there  had  still  remained  in  her  mind  an  illusion  it 
vanished  that  instant. 

"What  am  I  going  to  do  about  it?"  Uncon 
sciously  she  moistened  her  lips  afresh.  She  would 
have  given  anything  for  a  glass  of  water;  but  none 
was  handy,  and  she  would  not  ring.  As  suddenly  as 
had  come  the  alteration  from  girl  to  woman  had  come 
the  instinct  to  fight,  and  she  would  not  even  seem  to 
need  assistance  by  calling  a  third  person.  An  inde 
pendence  of  which  she  had  never  vaguely  dreamed 
herself  possessed  had  come  breathless  to  her  aid.  She 
opened  a  window  wide  instead. 

"  What  am  I  going  to  do  about  it?  "  she  repeated. 


168  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  First  of  all  I'm  going  to  ask  you  a  few  questions." 
She  had  returned  to  her  first  position,  her  hands  be 
hind  her  gripping  the  table  top.  "  You'll  have  no 
objection  to  answering,  I  presume?" 

Tracy  bowed  elaborately  and  regained  his  equilib 
rium  with  difficulty. 

44  I  am  at  your  service,  absolutely." 

*  To  begin,  then,  you've  been — drinking,  haven't 
you?  I  wish  to  take  that  into  consideration."  She 
looked  at  him  steadily,  but  without  a  trace  of  anger; 
the  man  marked  that  even  then.  "  I  didn't  notice 
when  you  entered,  Norman,  but  I  can't  help  under 
standing  now." 

The  man  made  an  effort  to  appear  offended,  and 
at  ease,  but  ineffectually. 

44  Yes,  I  have,"  he  blurted  defiantly. 

4  You  hadn't  intended  me  to  know,  intended  this — 
disillusionment  so  soon?  " 

Tracy  made  a  swift  gesture,  of  protest,  of  nega 
tion. 

44  No,  there  you're  mistaken.  I  did  it  deliberately. 
I  haven't  touched  a  drop  before  since  you  came.  To 
repeat,  this  farce  has  gone  on  long  enough.  I 
wished  an  understanding  to-night." 

44  I — see.  You  had  the  whole  scheme  in  mind  from 
the  first,  when  you  induced  me  to  come?  " 

4  Yes."  Against  his  will  the  man's  resentment 
was  ebbing,  she  was  so  quiet  and  matter-of-fact.  He 
even  began  to  wonder  if  after  all  her  attitude  meant 
t — what  he  had  originally  fancied.  u  Yes,  it  was  the 


The  Ancestral  Call  169 

only  way  to  get  you  here,  Eula.  The  only  way  pos 
sible  for  us  to  get — together." 

44  And  you  never  intended — even  when  we  were 
talking  of  it,  for  us  to  be  married  now?  " 

44  No,  it  would  be  impossible  now,  Eula." 

The  brown  fingers  slid  back  and  forth  across  the 
table  edge  meditatively. 

44  Why  impossible,  please?  The — franchise?" 
It  was  the  last  death  struggle  of  hope. 

44  The — franchise!"  Tracy  laughed  openly. 
44  Lord,  you  swallowed  the  bait  beautifully,  Eula.  I 
never  saw  a  bass  take  a  minnow  better.  No,  it's 
not  on  account  of  the  franchise." 

"  I  gather  that  too  was  a  myth,  a — necessary  means 
to  get  me  where  I  am  now?  " 

Tracy  shifted  uneasily.  He  felt  there  was  an  un 
dercurrent  flowing  of  which  he  was  being  kept  in  ig 
norance. 

44  Certainly.  I  wouldn't  invest  money  in  a  dinky 
little  town  like  this  if  I  were  rich  as  Croesus.  If  I 
had  money  to  burn  I'd  burn  it  and  be  done  with  the 
thing." 

44  What  then  is  the  reason  we  couldn't  be  married 
now,  Norman?"  Involuntarily  the  soft  oval  chin 
stiffened  in  anticipation.  "  Tell  me,  I  don't  believe 
you  can  hurt  me  more." 

Again  Tracy  felt  the  undercurrent,  and  uncon 
sciously  he  too  straightened.  Time  and  the  cold 
night  air  was  sobering  him  rapidly. 

44  The  reason,  Eula,"  he  was  watching  her  intently 


170  The  Dissolving  Circle 

as  a  naturalist  a  strange  bug  under  his  lens,  "  is  sim 
ply  because  I  couldn't.  I'm  married  already!  " 

For  a  half  minute  the  room  was  very  still,  so  still 
that  the  flapping  of  the  shade  in  the  night  wind 
sounded  in  comparison  like  the  steady  tapping  of 
workmen's  hammers.  At  last  even  histrionic  Norman 
Tracy  was  satisfied  with  his  climax  and  threw  out  a 
crumb. 

"  It's  not  so  bad  as  you  imagine,  after  all,  Eula," 
he  explained  in  forced  matter  of  fact.  "  I'm  married 
now,  but  just  a  few  weeks  longer  and  I  won't  be." 
It  was  almost  an  attempt  at  extenuation.  "  You 
know  what  Sioux  Falls  is  noted  for.  I  think  you'll 
understand  now  why  I'm  here.  I'm  merely  one  of 
the  hundred  colonists."  He  had  an  inspiration. 
"  And  you,"  he  added,  "  are  merely  one  of  the  hun 
dred  reasons  the  colonists  are  here." 

"  I — see."  The  red  lips  opened  in  the  ghost  of  a 
smile;  a  mocking,  ghastly  smile.  "  I  presume  I  un 
derstand  now — everything."  The  smile,  like  a  frosty 
breath,  was  turned  on  her  companion. 

"  You've  nothing  more  to  reveal,  have  you?  " 

Tracy  hesitated,  a  furrow  between  his  brows.  He 
wished  to  be  angry,  the  occasion  seemed  somehow 
to  demand  it,  but  he  could  hit  upon  no  tangible  reason. 

"  Yes,"  he  admitted  slowly,  "  I  believe  there's 
nothing  more  to  reveal.  You  understand  now — 
everything." 

Eula  Felkner's  brown  head  nodded  grave  corrobo- 
ration. 


The  Ancestral  Call  171 

"  Everything  of  the  past,  until  to-night.  The  fu 
ture,  as  it  concerns  you  and  me,  is  yet — obscure." 
The  sorry  little  smile  vanished.  Her  face  became 
rigid  as  before.  "  Granted  we  can't  be  married  now, 
after  you  become  free — you  see  I  am  taking  you  at 
your  word — what  then?  " 

Longer  than  before  Norman  Tracy  hesitated;  at 
last  he  started  walking  again,  restlessly,  rebelliously. 
For  a  long  minute  and  another  he  strode  back  and 
forth  the  breadth  of  the  glaring  oriental  rug. 

"  What'll  I  do  then,"  he  said,  "  I  can't  say.  I 
won't  say.  The  woman  doesn't  live  that  I'd  prom 
ise  again  to  marry.  I've  had  my  experience,  my  les 
son,  Eula."  Once  more,  consciously  or  uncon 
sciously,  it  was  almost  an  effort  at  extenuation.  "  I'll 
never  repeat  the  error." 

For  the  first  time  the  dark  face  of  Eula  Felkner 
whitened. 

"  Never,  Norman,  not  even  to — me?  Think  be 
fore  you  answer,  please.  This  may  mean  a  great 
deal  to — to  both  of  us." 

"  No."  The  answer  came  quickly,  indecently 
quickly.  "  I'm  honest  with  you  now,  absolutely  hon 
est.  I  wouldn't  promise  even  you,  Eula." 

"  You  don't  care  for  me  enough,  Norman?" 
tensely. 

"  No,  it  isn't  that.  I  want  you,  more  than  I  want 
anything  else  on  earth;  but  I'll  not  bind  myself  again." 
He  was  sober  now,  was  Norman  Tracy.  Confirmed 
alcoholic,  the  effect  of  the  liquor  he  had  drank  passed 


172  The  Dissolving  Circle 

rapidly.  "  You  must  not  ask  it,  Eula,  it's  use 
less." 

"  Useless — and  still  you  protest  you  love  me!" 
Against  her  will  the  girl's  eyes  flashed  menacingly. 
"  Useless,  when  no  one  knows  better  than  you  what 
the  alternative  you  suggest  means  to  a  woman ! 

Useless "  Of  a  sudden  she  paused.  Like  the 

instantaneous  flash  of  an  electric  spark  in  a  darkened 
room  a  carefully  buried  memory  of  another  man 
and  of  what  he  had  offered,  pleaded  for — he  who 
had  never  pleaded  before  to  a  living  being — leaped 
in  contrast  into  her  mind.  Useless!  Fancy  him 
saying  useless,  he  who  had  sworn  with  a  look  in  his 
eyes  she  had  never  doubted — and  even  after  she 
had  said  no — to  still  love  her,  protect  her  if  necessary 
as  long  as  he  lived.  Useless  1  Her  throat  throbbed 
as  though  it  would  burst,  her  eyes  moistened.  She 
forgot  the  man  watching  her,  forgot  that  she  must 
fight  for  her  own,  forgot  everything  except  what 
might  have  been. 

"  Oh,"  she  wailed,  "  why  couldn't  I  have  continued 
to  care  for  him  instead  of  for  you?  He's  worth  a 
thousand  of  you,  a  million !  Why  did  you  ever  come 
into  my  life  anyway?"  She  was  soliloquising,  inco 
herently,  in  abandon.  "  Why  when  I  meant  to  be — 
good?  Oh,  it's  tangled,  tangled!" 

"  Ah !  "  Tracy  was  at  ease  now.  The  tangible 
lapse  whereon  to  hang  a  protest  had  come  at  last  and 
he  made  the  most  of  it.  "  Ah,  so  that's  the  way  you 
feel.  I  think  I  begin  to  understand  various  things 


now." 


The  Ancestral  Call  173 

Eula  Felkner  made  no  defence.  As  quickly  as  had 
come  the  strength  of  combat,  it  had  left.  A  huddled 
little  brown  heap  she  had  sank  back  in  the  big  read 
ing  chair. 

"  Eula,"  Tracy  came  a  step  forward  and  stood 
looking  down  at  her  with  folded  arms,  "  you've  been 
asking  me  a  lot  of  questions.  It's  no  more  than  my  due 
that  you  should  answer  me  one  in  turn."  His  lash- 
less  eyes  narrowed  compellingly  and  he  waited  until 
she  looked  up.  "  Who  is  the  other  man  you're  al 
ways  telling  about,  who  plays  such  an  important  role 
in  our  affairs,  anyway?  What's  his  name  and  where 
is  he?  It's  my  right  to  know.  I  demand  it." 

Wide  eyed  the  girl  looked  him  back  fair,  but  with 
out  a  word. 

"  Tell  me,"  insisted  Tracy  irritably.  "  I'm  tired 
to  death  of  this  mystery." 

"  I — can't,  Norman.     I  never  can — now." 

"In  Heaven's  name,  why?  You  drive 

Why,  Eula?" 

"You  really  wish  to  know,  Norman?"  Just  a 
suggestion  of  the  independence  of  a  bit  ago  re 
turned. 

"  Most  emphatically,  yes.     Yes  to  infinity." 

"  I'll  tell  you  why,  then.  It's  because  I  love  you, 
Norman,  in  spite  of  everything.  I  promised  to  let 
him  know  when  we  were — married,  and  I  meant  to 
tell  you  everything  then,  too."  The  heavy-lashed 
and  the  lashless  eyes  met  in  a  long,  long  look.  "  If 
he  knew  I  was  here,  knew  what  you'd  done,  he'd  kill 


174  The  Dissolving  Circle 

you,  Norman  Tracy,  as  sure  as  God  lives  he'd  kill 
you !  " 

Involuntarily  the  man  fell  back  a  step.  His  pitted 
cheeks  whitened.  No  need  to  ask  if  what  she  said 
was  true.  Moral  coward  that  he  was,  he  was  the 
prey  of  his  own  imagination,  of  the  same  dogging 
fear  that  had  sought  refuge  in  red  liquor  so  many 
times  before.  He  drew  himself  together  with  an  ef 
fort.  It  was  his  moment,  he  realised  that,  he  could 
not  afford  to  think;  besides,  it  was  too  late  to  retreat 
now  anyway.  The  harm,  if  harm  he'd  caused,  was 
done.  The  penalty  therefor,  if  similarly  there  was  a 
penalty,  was  inevitable.  The  end,  the  end  he  had 
worked  for,  was  very  near  at  hand.  She  had  admit 
ted  it;  unintentionally,  but  nevertheless  certainly. 
His  shoulders  squared,  his  face  went  flushed 
again. 

"  So  that's  the  reason  you've  always  refused, 
Eula  ? "  he  voiced.  "  Because  you  love  me  so 
much?" 

"  Yes." 

"  Don't  you  think  I'm  able  to  take  care  of  myself, 
girlie?"  He  had  come  a  step  forward  and  was 
smiling  down  at  her  intimately.  "  Do  I  look  like  a 
mere  boy?  " 

The  girl  said  nothing  and  Tracy  came  closer  yet. 

"  Don't  you  worry  about  me,  Eula,  nor  about 
him,  nor  about  anything.  So  long  as  you  love  me 
and  I  love  you  that's  enough;  enough  for  both  of 
us.  Forget  the  past;  it's  dead,  dead.  Now  is  what 


The  Ancestral  Call  175 

counts."  He  had  been  coming  closer  and  closer. 
She  could  feel  his  hot  breath  on  her  hair  as  he  bent 
over.  "  Now,  now,  while  I've  got  you  and  youVe 
got  me."  His  face,  burning  hot,  was  against  her 
face,  his  arms  of  a  sudden  about  her.  "  Forget, 
girlie,  forget!  " 

For  a  second  the  girl  sat  still.  She  knew  she  was 
conquered,  at  the  bottom  of  her  soul  knew  she  wished 
it  so,  at  whatever  price ;  but  an  instinct,  a  something 
she  knew  not  what,  must  make  one  more  fight.  She 
stood  up,  breathing  hard. 

"  Norman,"  she  voiced,  u  Norman " 

For  another  second  the  man  stood  where  he  was, 
where  she  had  been;  then  without  a  word  he  strode 
across  the  room  toward  the  door. 

"  Good-bye,"  he  said  coldly. 

The  girl  watched  him,  almost  with  terror. 

"  Norman " 

The  man  paused,  but  he  did  not  look  back. 

"You're— going?" 

"  Yes,  for  good.  I  shan't  trouble  you  again, 
Eula." 

"What " 

"  I'll  leave  here  to-morrow.  You  may  do  as  you 
please." 

"  Leave  me — for  always?  " 

"  I've  said  so.     You've  made  your  choice." 

The  old  helpless  childish  terror  deepened. 

"  You  don't  mean  it,  Norman?  " 

"  Don't   I?"     This   time   he   turned.     "  You've 


176  The  Dissolving  Circle 

many  things  to  learn  yet,  Eula;  one  of  them  how  long 
you  can  safely  play  with  a  man.  I  repeat,  this  is 
good-bye." 

The  girl  waited,  waited  until  his  hand  was  on  the 
knob.  She  could  not  doubt  him  then. 

"  Norman "     It  was  a  wail. 

The  man  was  merciless  in  his  silence. 

"Norman,  come  back!"  A  gush  of  hot  tears 
blinded  her  so  she  could  not  see  him,  could  not  tell 
if  he  had  paused.  u  I  can't  have  you  go,  have  you 
leave  me.  I  can't  go  back  home  now.  It's  too 
late.  You're  all  I've  got,  Norman ;  all  in  the  world. 
Come  back,  please,  please,  come  back.  I'll  do  any 
thing  you  wish,  anything.  Only  come  back."  Un 
certainly,  gropingly,  she  was  making  her  way  across 
the  room  toward  him.  Responsive  at  last,  the  man 
returned  just  a  step  and  halted;  but  she  was  beyond 
reason  now,  beyond  thought.  On  and  on  she  went, 
on  until  their  bodies  touched.  "  Oh,"  her  arms  were 
about  him  in  abandon,  her  head  on  his  breast.  "  Oh, 
I  love  you,  I  love  you  so,  Norman !  " 


Chapter  XIII 

REVELATION 

BRUCE  WATSON  did  not  look  up  as  his  door  opened. 
He  was  sitting  by  the  combination  table  desk,  care 
fully  divested  of  its  litter  and  dusted  for  the  occa 
sion,  studying  with  complete  absorption  a  map  as 
large  as  the  top  itself.  For  a  moment  his  visitor 
stood  just  inside  waiting;  then  coming  forward 
silently  she  stopped  by  his  side  and  looked  down  over 
his  shoulder  equivocally. 

"  Good-morning,  Doctor  Watson,"  she  introduced. 

"  Good-morning."  One  of  the  big  hands  drove  a 
pin  into  the  board  at  a  certain  point  as  though  from 
a  hammer  blow,  another  at  a  different  spot,  and  still 
another.  Then  he  glanced  up ; — "  Mrs.  Thurston," 
he  completed  on  recognition. 

The  woman  looked  down  at  the  map  curiously. 
It  was  not  an  ordinary  map.  Large  as  it  was,  on  its 
neutral  pink  background  there  were  scarcely  a  dozen 
dots  marking  towns  or  cities;  barely  half  that  number 
of  tortuous  black  lines  indicating  rivers.  A  few,  a 
very  few,  curly  radiating  figures,  conventionally  des 
ignating  heights,  broke  the  monotony — both  from 
their  presence  and  their  fanciful  Indian  names: 
"  Patched  Skin  Buttes,"  "  Thunder  Butte,"  "  Wedge 
Tent  Butte,"  and  the  like;  but  otherwise  it  was  mere 

177 


178  The  Dissolving  Circle 

monotonous  faded  pink  crossed  by  undeviating  lines 
of  latitude  and  longitude  and  equally  arbitrary  county 
boundaries  chosen  of  man.  The  well-formed  nose 
of  the  inspector  tilted  at  the  meagreness  revealed. 

"  Pardon  me,  Doctor,"  she  commented,  "  but  I 
fail  to  see  anything  there  sufficiently  interesting  to 
make  you  oblivious  of  a  lady's  entrance.  To  be 
frank,  the  implication  is  scarcely  complimentary." 

Watson  arose  with  a  smile. 

"  I  have  no  defence  to  offer,  Mrs.  Thurston.  Take 
my  chair,  please.  Moreover,  I  hardly  think  I  would 
attempt  one  even  though  it  hung  on  the  end  of  my 
tongue."  He  had  seated  himself  opposite,  loose- 
limbed,  comfortable  as  was  his  wont.  "  To  explain 
in  a  way  admits  the  necessity  of  explanation  and  al 
ways  involves  one  deeper  and  deeper." 

"  And  in  this  case  the  mere  suggestion  of  a  neces 
sity  is  preposterous !  " 

"  Positively  I  refuse  to  become  involved.  Life 
grows  shorter  every  minute." 

"  Very  well,"  with  affected  reluctance.  "  Tell  me 
the  meaning  of  this  pink  puzzle  instead.  You  don't 
mind  my  being  curious?  " 

"  Not  in  the  least." 

"  What  is  it  then;  a  continent  yet  unexplored?  " 

Watson  leaned  back.  His  big-jointed  fingers 
clasped  in  his  lap  and  he  looked  the  facetious  ques 
tioner  opposite  gravely.  Unconsciously,  as  ever  when 
he  became  serious,  and  it  seemed  he  was  always  so, 
in  sympathy  the  curl  left  his  companion's  lip. 


Revelation  179 

"  That,  Mrs.  Thurston,  is  my  country,  the  place 
where  until  six  years  ago  IVe  lived  from  the  time  I 
can  remember.  Don't  make  sport  of  it,  please.  It's 
like  laughing  at  one's  mother." 

"  Pardon  me,  Doctor."  Genuine  contrition  was 
in  the  low  voice.  "  I  didn't  understand.  Tell  me 
about  it,  please;  I'm  interested." 

The  man  said  nothing,  but  his  wide-set  eyes  par 
tially  closed. 

"  Please  tell  me,"  repeated  insistently. 

"  There's  nothing  much  to  tell,  Mrs.  Thurston;  " 
even  yet  he  hesitated,  as  if  loth  to  speak;  "  very  little 
to  show  you,  though  you  were  there  with  me.  It's 
all  prairie,  prairie  so  far  as  you  can  see,  from  horizon 
to  horizon,  from  infinity  to  infinity.  Go  out  in  the 
centre  of  it  and  you  grow  to  fancy  the  whole  world  is 
flat,  or  merely  slightly  rolling,  just  enough  to  break 
the  monotony;  get  up  in  the  morning  and  in  every  di 
rection  you  see  grass,  grass;  that,  and  nothing  more. 
But  it's  enough.  It  tells  you  everything  you  need  to 
know.  Its  colour  indicates  the  season  of  the  year.  Its 
growth,  rank  or  scant,  predicts  the  weather  you  may 
expect  better  than  a  government  forecast.  Its  variety 
is  guide  unfailing.  If  it's  buffalo  grass,  and  you're 
a  native,  you  don't  even  have  to  open  your  eyes. 
Its  odour  is  unmistakable  in  your  nostrils.  If  it's  al 
kali  grass,  by  the  same  code  you  still  know  where  you 
are.  You  travel  all  day,  from  darkness  to  darkness. 
The  next  morning  you  arise — and  you  wouldn't  know 
you'd  stirred  from  your  first  camp.  From  sky  to  sky 


180  The  Dissolving  Circle 

there's  stretched  the  same  softly  waving  carpet,  the 
same  message  of  friendship.  That's  the  beauty  of 
it,  the  fascination.  You're  always  acquainted,  always 
at  home.  It's — wonderful."  He  paused;  a  light  in 
his  blue  eyes  the  listener  had  never  seen  there  before. 

Mrs.  Thurston  drew  a  long  breath. 

"  How  you — love  it!  "  she  halted.  "  I  never  be 
lieved  before  a  person  could  love  a  bit  of  earth 


so." 


Watson  smiled  in  silence,  the  reflection  of  native 
prairie  still  on  his  face. 

"  I  believe  you  care  for  it  more  than  for  human 
beings,  more  than  for  anyone." 

Still  the  doctor  said  nothing;  only  smiled  with  those 
great,  wide-set  eyes  of  his,  the  eyes  which  told  every 
thing  and — nothing. 

For  a  long  time,  a  time  longer  than  either  realised, 
they  sat  so  in  silence ;  and  gradually  there  came  to  the 
woman  an  understanding,  a  conviction  of  certainty, 
concerning  many  things  about  which  before  she  could 
but  speculate.  Very  slowly,  with  the  knowledge,  her 
brown  head  lowered,  her  face  fell  into  her  hands  and, 
elbows  spread  wide,  she  observed  him  openly. 

"  Doctor,"  she  paused  until  he  met  her  eye,  "  I 
wish  to  ask  you  a  question,  a  personal  question.  May 
I?" 

The  great  bushy  head  nodded  permission,  smiling 
permission. 

"  A  dozen  if  you  wish,  Mrs.  Thurston." 

"  No,    one — or    two    are    enough."     The    black 


Revelation  181 


brows  contracted  intensely.  "  What  puzzles  me  ii 
is  you  yourself,  the  inconsistency  of  you.  With  your 
disposition,  loving  this  wild  life  as  you  do,  I  can't 
see  the  logic  of  events  which  put  you  where  you  are 
now.  Why  is  it,  please?  " 

"  There  was  no  logic  involved."  The  smile  re 
peated  itself.  "  Otherwise  I  shouldn't  be  here." 

"  The  reason,  then?     At  least  you  had  a  motive." 

"  Yes,  there  was  a  motive ;  a  very  definite  one  six 
years  ago.  Like  all  children,  I  wished  to  see  the 
world,  life,  Mrs.  Thurston." 

"  And  " — irony  tinged  the  even  sentence — "  and 
you  found  that  for  which  you  searched,  Doctor?  " 

"  In  a  measure,  yes.     I  found — life." 

"  And  you  didn't  like  it  after  you'd  found  it?  " 

"  No."  The  blue  eyes  were  unruffled  as  at  first. 
"  You're  mistaken  in  that  premise.  I  did  like  it. 
That's  why  I'm  what  I  am  now." 

"  And  still  you're  going  to  leave  here,  leave — civ 
ilisation."  The  long  lashes  indicated  the  map  and 
the  pin-dotted  trail  triumphantly.  "You  won't  at 
tempt  to  deny  that  to  me?  " 

"  No,  there's  no  secret  about  it,  Mrs.  Thurston. 
I'm  going  back — back  where  I  left  off." 

One  of  the  brown  hands  dropped  to  the  table  irri 
tably. 

"  Doctor,  you're — maddening.  You're  inconsis 
tent  as  a — man." 

"  Inconsistent?" 

"  Yes.     You  say  you  like  a  certain  thing,  a  cer- 


182  The  Dissolving  Circle 

tain  life,  and  then  in  the  same  breath  admit  you're 
going  to  leave  it.  You're  impossible !  " 

"  You  overlooked  the  preterite,  Mrs.  Thurston." 

"The  preterite!" 

"  Yes.  There  was  a  time  when  a  reason,  an  ade 
quate  reason,  existed  for  the  change.  It's  no  longer 
in  evidence  is  all." 

The  wide  eyes  tightened  understandingly  and  again 
the  elbows  spread  wide. 

"  The  same  as  the  incentive  for  making  a  success 
of  a  work,  which  is  not  your  work,  has  ceased  to 
exist?" 

"  Exactly." 

"  I  see."  At  last  the  full  meaning  of  the  man's 
position,  the  sacrifice  of  it,  the  pathos,  the  tragedy, 
the  comedy — whatever  it  was — came  to  the  woman 
and  the  questions  halted.  It  was  like  a  page  out  of 
a  novel  turned  to  life,  and  she  was  feminine. 

"  I  see,"  she  repeated  musingly.     "  I  see." 

"  That's  easily  credible."  Watson  was  looking  out 
of  the  window  onto  the  sooty,  gravelled  roof  of  the 
big  hotel.  "  It's  all  very  simple.  Every  human 
being  goes  through  the  same  experience  some  time  in 
life,  I  fancy.  The  only  difference  is  that  some  never 
go  back — back  where  they  left  off." 

"  Yes,"  his  companion  caught  up  the  phrase  medi 
tatively,  equivocally,  "  some  people  never  go  back, 
never  return  to  their  old  life,  never!  By  the  way, 
when  are  you  going  to  start?  You  haven't  told  me 
that  yet." 


Revelation  183 

"  I  don't  know,  Mrs.  Thurston." 

"  Don't  know?  "  incredulously. 

"  No.  It  may  be  to-morrow.  It  may  be  a  year 
from  now." 

"  Doctor, "  a  suggestion  of  rebuke  came  into  the 
black  eyes,  "  you're  unfair  with  me  again." 

Two  sparrows  were  fighting  fiercely  on  the  sooty 
roof  opposite,  and  the  man  watched  them  impassively. 

"  You  mean  you  won't  tell  me,"  reproachfully. 

Conquered  and  conqueror  flitted  away  and  Watson 
faced  about. 

"  I  repeat,  I  don't  know.  There's  a  reason  .why; 
but  I  can't  tell  you  that." 

"  I  think  it's  unnecessary,  Doctor."  Of  a  sudden 
the  red  lips  parted  triumphantly.  "  You're  very 
transparent,  Bruce  Watson." 

The  child-wide  eyes  neither  broadened  nor  closed. 

"  And  very,  very  foolish." 

Still  no  response;  only  the  impassive  wait  which 
invariably  brought  to  light  all  things. 

"  Doctor,"  as  suddenly  again  the  mood  had  altered, 
"  I  wish  you  to  promise  me  something.  Will 
you?" 

"  What  is  it,  please?" 

"  Promise  me  without  question."  One  hand  left 
the  brown  chin  irritably.  "  Trust  me  that  much." 

A  moment  the  man  hesitated. 

"  Very  well,  I  promise,"  he  said. 

"  It's  that  whenever  you  leave  you'll  let  me  know 
before  you  go." 


184  The  Dissolving  Circle 

44  And  why,  please?" 

"  You'll  not  forget  you  promised?  " 

"  No." 

The  hand  returned  to  the  chin.  The  dark  face 
grew  swarthier.  For  an  instant  while  she  paused 
the  great  arteries  throbbed  visibly  at  her  throat. 

"  The  reason,  Bruce  Watson,  is  because  I'm  going 
with  you." 

Involuntarilly  the  muscles  of  the  man's  thin  face 
tightened  just  a  shade.  His  nostrils  widened  like 
those  of  a  thoroughbred  in  a  race.  That  was  all. 

"Because  I'm  going  with  you  when  you  go,"  re 
peated  the  voice  insistently. 

"  I  heard  you,  Mrs.  Thurston,"  very  quietly. 

His  companion  made  a  wry  face. 

"  Mrs.  Thurston !  "  Once  more  the  brown  chin 
stood  out  alone.  "  Don't  use  that  word  again,  please. 
The  person  of  that  name  no  longer  lives;  ceased  to 
exist  two  weeks  ago.  Do  you  know  whom  you're 
addressing,  sir?" 

;<  Time  indeed  moves  rapidly,  Miss  Berkeley." 

"  Bruce  Watson,  you — knew  all  the  time?  " 

"  There  was  a  column  write-up,  at  the  date  you 
mention,  in  a  New  York  paper."  As  though  under  the 
hand  of  a  master  artist  the  wrinkles  radiated  afresh. 
"  My  own  humble  name  even  figured  to  a  minor 
extent." 

For  a  moment  the  woman  was  very  still. 

"  Someone  here  who  knows  us  both,  disliked  us 
both,  sent  in  the  story,  I  suppose?  " 


Revelation  185 

14  Doubtless." 

"  Norman  Tracy,  I  presume?  " 

Watson  said  nothing,  and  his  companion  observed 
him  equivocally. 

"  Doesn't  he  realise  that  he  lives  in  a  glass 
house?" 

"  He's  ceased  to  do  so,  Miss  Berkeley.  He  too 
is— free." 

The  equivocal  look  became  definite,  of  wonder. 

"  You  know  his  life  here,  Doctor?  " 

The  man  nodded. 

"  And  still  you  said  nothing — did  not  retaliate?  " 

"  Life  is  very  short.  What  he's  doing  is  no  affair 
of  mine." 

"  Bruce  Watson,  you're — I  don't  know  what  I 
You're  either  more  than  human,  or  less!  " 

The  other  waited. 

"  I  don't  believe  you're  capable  of  either  loving  or 
hating." 

Silence  still. 

4  You  won't  even  be  a  good — acquaintance."  The 
flame  was  growing  by  its  own  fuel ;  the  repression  and 
rebellion  of  past  weeks.  "  You're  cold  and  self-con 
tained  as  clay." 

The  desk  chair  creaked  softly  as  again  Watson 
turned  to  the  window  and  the  sooty  roof. 

"  I  can't  even  imagine  why  I'm  taking  the  trouble 
to  tell  you  all  this.  You're  not  listening." 

4  You're  mistaken,  Miss  Berkeley,"  evenly. 
"  Most  assuredly  I'm  listening." 


1 86  The  Dissolving  Circle 

For  an  instant  there  was  a  pause  in  the  storm ;  but 
for  an  instant  only. 

"  Why  don't  you  defend  yourself,  then?  "  With 
one  swift  movement  she  arose  and  moved  over  to  the 
casement.  "  It's  I  who  am  listening  now." 

"  I  have  no  defence  to  make." 

"  No  need,  you  think?  " 

Watson  said  nothing,  and  for  a  moment  the  woman 
observed  him  ironically;  then  her  face  softened. 

"  Pardon  me,  Doctor,  I  didn't  mean  that."  She 
bit  at  her  lip  savagely.  "  I'm  desperate  again  to-day. 
I  want  to  do  something  right  now  and  I've  not  the  re 
motest  idea  what.  Logically,  I'm  through  here  and 
ought  to  go  back  where  I  came  from;  but  I'm  not 
going  back."  The  daintiest  of  fairywork  handker 
chiefs  went  to  her  offended  lip,  and  when  it  returned 
it  bore  a  tiny  blotch  of  red.  "  I  hate  the  thought 
of  it  all  back  there;  the  conventionality,  the  affecta 
tion,  the  grooves  worn  of  our  fathers — the  unspeak 
able  intolerance.  I  hate  it!  I  hate  it!  "  She  ven 
tured  a  downward  glance.  "  I  was  serious  when  I 
asked  you  to  promise  me  what  you  did.  There's 
no  one  living,  nothing  on  earth,  to  prevent  my  doing 
as  I  wish;  and  I  wish  to  see  this  other  life — this  life 
you  know.  Remember  what  I  say,  Bruce  Watson. 
When  you  go  West,  I  go  too,  go  with  you." 

There  was  an  appreciable  pause. 

"With  my — knowledge,  Miss  Berkeley?"  very 
quietly  at  last. 

"  Yes.     With  your  knowledge  and  consent." 


Revelation  187 

"  And  in  what  capacity,  please?  " 

"  In  any  you  choose."  The  black  eyes  were  un 
faltering.  "  You — understand.  We  are  no  longer 
children." 

Again  for  a  space  the  man  looked  out  the  win 
dow,  at  the  curling  lifting  column  of  smoke  from  the 
big  hostelry — black  as  ink  against  the  background  of 
the  clearest  of  blue  prairie  skies — at  a  fresh  pair  of 
sparrows  settling  another  dispute  on  the  dirty  ledge, 
at  a  flock  of  mottled  pigeons  circling  high  overhead, 
drifting  aimlessly  in  the  pure  joy  of  freedom  and  life. 
At  last,  very  slowly,  he  arose  and  stretched  himself 
with  the  old,  old  trick  of  perfect  physical  well  being. 
Simultaneously  from  the  angles  of  his  eyes  radiated 
the  ever  ready  wrinkles. 

"  On  a  day  like  this,  Miss  Berkeley,"  he  com 
mented  deliberately,  "  earth  herself  is  good  enough 
to  live  on.  Let's  come  back  to  her." 

His  companion's  black  eyes  flashed  warningly. 

"  You  mean  to  imply  I've  been  dreaming?  " 

"  I  think  we've  both  been  a  bit — exalted." 

The  woman  came  forward  a  step,  swiftly,  passion 
ately. 

"  You  personally,  though,  don't  believe  I  was  in 
earnest  when  I  said — what  I  did  say?  " 

"  I  believe  you  believe  you  are  desperate.  I  can 
understand  that.  We're  all  that  way  sometimes." 

"  But  my  going  with  you,"  insistently.  "  You  think 
I'll  not  go?" 

"  I  know  you'll  not,  Miss  Berkeley." 


1 88  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  The  reason,  please?"  A  menace  was  in  the 
suddenly  narrowed  lids.  "  Tell  me  why,  Doctor." 

"  Why?  "  Once  more  it  was  the  repressedly  im 
passive,  the  unsmiling  Bruce  Watson  who  spoke. 
"  Because  I'll  not  permit  you  to  do  so."  He  met  the 
menace  fairly,  openly.  "  Certainly  you've  trusted 
me  much  too  far  to  fancy  I'll  take  advantage  of  you 
now,  Miss  Berkeley." 

"  But " — against  her  will  the  woman's  anger  was 
ebbing — "  but  when  it's  my  wish,  when  I  go  with  my 
eyes  wide  open?  " 

"  Don't  argue  the  matter,  please."  Unconsciously 
the  man's  arms  folded  across  the  broad  chest.  u  It's 
impossible." 

For  a  second  the  place  was  very  still,  so  still  that 
his  companion's  rapid  breathing  sounded  as  one  run 
ning. 

"  Bruce  Watson,"  of  a  sudden  she  had  come  for 
ward  and  held  him,  a  hand  on  either  shoulder,  com- 
pellingly,  "  Bruce  Watson,  can't  you  understand  that 
I — love  you  ?  " 

"  No,"  very  gently,  "  I  can't  understand,  but  I — 
believe  you." 

"  You  believe  me?  "  It  was  almost  a  cry  of  tri 
umph.  "Why,  then,  is  what  I  ask  impossible? 
Your  own  love,  your  boy  love,  is  past.  You  admit 
it.  Can't  you  possibly  " — the  tense  voice  bore  a  plea 
now,  an  all  but  breathless  plea — "  care  for  me  a 
little." 

Very    erect,    very    steady,    stood    long    Watson; 


Revelation  189 

but  this  time  his  face  whitened,  sharpened.  In  a 
flash  he  seemed  to  have  grown  almost  old. 

"  I  repeat,  Miss  Berkeley,"  he  said  slowly,  "  I 
can't  discuss  it  with  you.  I've  done  very  wrong  to 
have  made  this  moment — inevitable." 

"Wrong,  Bruce  Watson?"  As  suddenly  as  she 
had  taken  him  captive  the  black  head  had  dropped 
to  his  shoulder.  "Wrong?  It  seems  you're  never 
wrong.  That's  the  worst  of  it.  I  can't  be  angry 
with  you  when  I  wish.  You're  a — god,  Bruce  Wat 
son,  my  god.  Oh,  I  never  really,  truly  cared  for 
anyone  before;  I  realise  it  all  now.  But  I  love — * 
you."  She  was  sobbing  hysterically,  in  abandon, 
"  Love  you !  love  you  1  " 

For  a  second,  a  long  second,  the  man  did  not  stir. 
In  it  a  Power  all-seeing  and  he  himself  only  knew 
how  near  he  fell. 

"  Miss  Berkeley,"  with  an  effort  he  was  free,  his 
great  bony  hands  clasped  behind  his  back,  "  in  Mother 
Nature's  name  don't  tempt  me  any  more.  Like 
every  other  man,  I'm  human.  Go,  please;  I  ask  it 
as  a  favour.  We're  mad,  both  of  us,  mad!  " 

Once  again  over  the  tiny  struggling  human  pawns 
fell  silence,  the  interim  of  reconstruction. 

"  Am  I  to  understand,"  the  voice  had  grown  un 
believably  formal,  unbelievably  cold,  "  that  you  refuse 
my  offer?" 

The  great  bushy  head  made  a  motion  of  depreca 
tion,  almost  of  weariness. 

"  Answer  me,  please,"  curtly. 


190  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  Yes."  ' 

They  looked  each  other  fair,  and  it  was  not  the 
man's  eyes  which  first  dropped. 

"Very  well,  then.  Most  assuredly  I'll  leave." 
The  brown  chin  was  high  in  the  air,  but  nevertheless 
she  lingered  unnecessarily,  patting  her  hair,  adjusting 
her  hat  afresh,  going  through  all  her  transparent  lit 
tle  tricks  to  consume  time.  At  last  she  started  to 
ward  the  door;  but  halfway  paused  as  at  a  sudden 
thought. 

"  I  came  over  to-day,"  she  ignored  haltingly,  "  to 
ask  your  presence  at  a  little  chafing  dish  lunch 
at  my  rooms  to-morrow  night."  Irresistibly  she 
coloured.  "  May  I  have  the  pleasure  of  your  com 
pany?" 

Something  like  a  convulsion  passed  over  the  doc 
tor's  face,  and  in  motion  of  pure  instinct  he  walked 
over  to  the  window  and  stood  looking  down  onto 
the  shifting  units  of  the  city's  one  busy  street.  Thirty 
mocking  seconds  slipped  by. 

"  Thank  you,  very  much,  Miss  Berkeley,"  he 
voiced  at  last,  "  but  I  can't  come." 

"  Can't— come?  "  steadily. 

"  I  am  sure  it  were  better  not — for  both  of  us." 

As  powder  flashes  the  hot  colour  started  in  up 
ward  journey  on  the  woman's  cheek.  Again  the  black 
eyes  narrowed.  The  menace  would  not  leave  so  easily 
this  time. 

44  You  mean  this  is  to  be  the  end?"  She  had 
turned  fairly  about,  openly  hostile.  "  That  our — ac- 


Revelation  191 

quaintance  of  the  last  few  months  is  to  cease  now — 
to-day?" 

The  man  did  not  answer,  she  did  not  expect  him 
to,  yet  her  grievance  grew  at  his  silence.  While 
one  could  count  ten  slowly  she  looked  at  him,  her 
colour  heightening,  her  breath  coming  more  and  more 
quickly,  the  portent  deepening  in  the  black  eyes.  At 
last  came  the  inevitable,  and  like  a  deluge  escaping 
she  stepped  close,  her  dark  face  working  uncontroll 
ably. 

"  Bruce  Watson,"  she  blazed,  "  you're  a  pitiful, 
timid  child;  one  clutching  its  mother's  skirts  and 
grovelling  in  terror  at  its  own  reflection.  You  think 
you  love  the  wild,  think  you're  a  part  of  it."  She 
paused  for  breath.  "  Lord,  you're  as  domesticated 
as  a  barnyard  fowl.  Fancy  one  really  of  the  type 
doing  as  you  are  doing;  refusing  what  you  have  re 
fused  !  "  She  tried  to  laugh,  but  her  throat  was 
choking  and  she  could  not.  "  Doubtless  you  fancy 
you're  very,  very  noble  to  thus  withstand  temptation. 
Probably  so  long  as  you  live  you'll  gloat  over  this 
day,  felicitate  yourself  upon  it."  This  time  she  did 
laugh ;  a  horrible,  unnatural  laugh.  "  Temptation  1  " 
She  gave  ironic  accent,  syllable  for  syllable.  "  You 
don't  even  know  the  meaning  of  the  word.  You,  a 
stone,  feel  a  human  passion?  It's  incredible.  You 
couldn't.  You're  fundamentally  incapable."  Once 
more  interrupted  the  laugh,  unmusical,  hysterical. 
"  You  may  continue  to  delude  yourself,  Bruce  Wat 
son,  but  you  can't  deceive  me  any  longer.  I  know 


192  The  Dissolving  Circle 

you ;  you  yourself.  You're  clay  where  I  thought  you 
flesh  and  blood;  ashes  where  I  fancied  to  find  fire." 
She  halted  from  pure  exhaustion,  but  the  black  eyes 
were  unappeased,  burned  fiercer  and  more  fiercely. 
"  Oh,  I  hate  you,  Bruce  Watson.  Hate  you!  Hate' 
you!" 

Through  it  all  the  man  had  not  stirred,  had  not 
made  a  sound;  nor  did  he  now.  Like  a  figure  in  the 
clay  to  which  she  had  compared  him  he  continued 
looking  down,  down  at  the  crawling  drays,  the  scurry 
ing  cabs,  the  bustling  pedestrians  of  the  busy  prairie 
city  street.  Yet,  if  he  took  note  of  what  he  saw,  he 
gave  no  sign.  Now  and  then  the  lashes  closed  over 
the  wide  blue  eyes,  once  he  moistened  his  lips;  but 
that  was  all.  So  long  as  she  could  endure  the  si 
lence,  the  inaction,  the  woman  lingered,  awaited  a 
defence  which  she  knew  as  well  as  she  knew  it  was 
day  would  never  come.  Once  she  took  a  step  forward 
and  for  the  fraction  of  a  second  the  hard  eyes 
softened;  then  as  suddenly,  her  red  under  lip  tight 
between  cruel,  mutilating  teeth,  she  turned  swiftly 
to  the  exit.  Involuntarily,  her  hand  on  the  knob, 
she  paused;  breathless,  listening.  But  there  was  no 
sound;  and  with  a  sob,  which  all  her  resolve  could 
not  subdue,  the  door  closed  behind  her. 

Down  the  groaning  elevator  of  the  Minnehaha 
Building  she  went  in  a  daze.  The  boy  in  charge 
looked  at  her  curiously,  but  she  did  not  notice.  Out 
side,  oblivious  to  danger,  she  started  straight  across 
the  street.  A  hurrying  hack  all  but  rode  her  down, 


Revelation  193 

the  driver  drawing  up,  with  a  curse  and  a  play  of 
sparks  from  the  horses'  shod  feet,  just  in  time — and 
she  was  totally  unconscious  of  her  escape.  With  the 
closing  of  the  office  door  volition  had  passed  into 
temporary  abeyance.  It  was  pure  instinct  which 
guided  her  up  to  her  own  room,  which  caused  her 
to  draw  the  shades  until  even  with  the  bright  sun 
light  without  the  room  was  in  semi-shadow.  It  was 
blind  habit  which  prompted  her  to  remove  hat  and 
coat.  It  was  neither,  however,  which  scarcely  a  mo 
ment  later  sent  her  back  to  the  window  and  gazing 
surreptitiously  through  a  tiny  rift  into  a  certain  room 
on  the  sixth  floor  of  the  big  building  opposite.  Never 
theless  for  a  full  half  hour  she  watched;  until  the  last 
vestige  of  anger  had  left  the  glorious  black  eyes, 
until  she  could  no  longer  distinguish  anything  through 
the  mist  gathering  thicker  and  thicker.  For  in  all 
that  time  the  figure  she  was  watching,  the  figure  which 
remained  precisely  as  when  she  herself  had  left  the 
room,  had  not  stirred  I 


Chapter  XIV 

ASHES 

INVOLUNTARILY  Stephen  Phelps  drew  back  when  he 
saw  who  his  visitor  was;  but  Norman  Tracy,  unin 
vited,  came  in  as  though  he  were  accustomed  to  mak 
ing  a  daily  call. 

"  Don't  worry,"  he  smiled  as,  again  unrequested, 
he  settled  himself  comfortably  in  the  biggest,  easiest 
chair,  "  I  didn't  call  to  challenge  you,  though  I've 
no  doubt  you  deserve  it.  I  just  learned  to-day  that 
you  were  still  in  town — I  supposed  you'd  flown 
months  ago — so  I  decided  to  drop  in  and  see  what's 
the  trouble."  He  observed  his  obviously  reluctant 
host  with  genuine  amusement.  "  Having  difficulties, 
are  you?  " 

Phelps  returned  the  look;  at  first  with  open  hos 
tility,  then,  as  gradually  the  old  fascination  of  the 
other's  presence  became  dominant,  almost  with  ad 
miration. 

"  Tracy,"  he  shifted  from  one  leg  to  the  other 
vacillatingly,  "  your  nerve  is  something  magnificent. 
After  the  last  time  we  met,  to " 

"  Sit  down  and  forget  it."  The  visitor  pre-empted 
the  position  of  host  with  a  hospitable  wave  of  his 
hand.  "  Let  bygones  be  bygones.  We,"  he  gener 
ously  included  the  other  in  the  past  fault,  "  we  were 
both  doubtless  a  bit  hasty  that  other  afternoon." 

194 


Ashes  195 

Phelps  laughed  ironically,  but  nevertheless  he 
obeyed. 

"  I  suppose,"  he  satirised,  "  that  your  return  means 
you  have  use  for  me  again.  Needless  to  say,  you'd 
never  take  the  trouble  otherwise." 

"  Frankly,  yes."  Tracy  ignored  the  innuendo  with 
fine  magnanimity.  "  I'm  restless  as  a  comet  to-day." 
He  swept  the  room  searchingly.  "  Got  anything  cool 
about  to  drink,  have  you?  " 

In  silence  Phelps  pressed  a  bell  and,  as  a  minute 
later  a  shock-headed  boy  in  buttons  appeared,  gave 
an  order. 

Over  twin  cold  bottles  of  beer  Tracy  sighed  in 
satisfaction. 

"  Gad,"  he  emphasised,  "  I  believe  I'll  move  back 
here  to  the  hotel."  He  paused  to  empty  his  glass. 
"  I  will  to-morrow.  After  all,  this  is  the  only  place 
in  town  to  live ;  the  one  spot  to  find  even  a  suggestion 
of  comfort." 

Against  his  will  Phelps  thawed  at  the  implied  con 
fidence.  Moreover,  his  curiosity  was  aroused. 

"What's  the  matter?"  His  tone  was  exagger 
atedly  blase.  u  Has  the  flame  on  South  Phillips  Ave 
nue  burned  dead  already?  " 

"  Yes,  long  ago."  Tracy  emptied  a  second  glass 
without  a  pause.  "  I'm  too  old  to  conduct  a  kinder 
garten." 

Phelps  inspected  the  label  on  the  bottle  before  him 
equivocally. 

"  The  lady's  still  in  town  I  judge,  however?  " 


196  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  Yes,  she'll  probably  stay  here  for  a  time  yet 
at  least."  The  visitor  flashed  a  glance  of  sudden  sus 
picion;  but  the  other's  boy  face  was  as  guilelessly 
placid  as  a  mountain  pool,  and  the  inspector  was  satis 
fied.  "  I've  arranged  everything.  She'll  make  a 
mighty  good  investment  out  of  this  summer."  He 
emptied  the  bottle  deliberately  and  drained  the  glass. 
"  In  one  respect  at  least  my  ancestors  were  kind  to 
me;  the  matter  of  money."  He  laughed  curtly. 
"  It's  about  the  only  instance  which  I've  ever  been 
able  to  discover." 

Phelps  said  nothing,  and  after  a  moment  Tracy 
himself  touched  the  call  bell. 

"  It's  my  turn  this  time,"  he  justified. 

The  fresh  order  before  them  the  visitor  sat  a  bit 
longer  in  silence,  smiling  enigmatically. 

"  How's  the  club?  "  he  queried  at  last.  "  Still  in 
existence,  is  it?  " 

"  Yes,"  shortly.    The  recollection  was  yet  galling. 

"  Any  of  the  old  guard  left?  "  cheerfully. 

"  No,  everyone  is  gone  except  you  and  me  and — 
iWatson."  Phelps  straightened  in  aroused  interest. 
"  By  the  way,  that  man  Watson's  an  enigma.  I  can 
watch  him  daily  from  the  windows  here,  you  know. 
He  sticks  to  his  office  as  though  he  were  glued  fast. 
I  don't  believe  I've  seen  him  on  the  street  once  this 
summer." 

Tracy  scowled  in  disapproving  silence,  and  un 
der  full  steam  Phelps  checked  himself.  He  even 
flushed. 


Ashes  1197 

"  Come  to  think  of  it,  Mrs.  Thurston  is  still  here,1' 
he  digressed  hastily. 

Tracy's  face  cleared  at  the  obvious  homage. 

"  Yes,"  the  voice  grew  confidentially  intimate 
again,  "  and  for  the  life  of  me  I  can't  make  out  what 
she's  staying  for.  Do  you  know?  " 

The  other  shook  his  head. 

"  I've  never  become  acquainted  with  her  except 
by  sight,  you  remember,"  he  explained. 

Tracy  drained  another  measure  of  beer  and  wiped 
his  lips  deliberately. 

"  I'd  give — more  than  you'd  believe — to  know," 
significantly. 

Again  Phelps  took  remarkable  interest  in  the  label 
on  his  bottle;  turning  it  from  side  to  side  the  better 
to  see. 

"  And  by  God,  I'll  find  out,  or  my  name  isn't 
Norman  Tracy." 

This  time  Phelps  looked  up  shrewdly. 

"  So  that's  the  reason !  "  he  suggested  ambiguously. 
"  I  was  wondering — after  what  you  said  of  the  other 
—affair." 

"  Yes."  Tracy  showed  no  resentment.  "  I'd  have 
gone  two  months  ago  otherwise."  He  drank  the  last 
of  the  second  bottle  absently.  His  thirst  was  as  a 
desert.  "  Frankly,  that  woman  baffles  me,  Phelps. 
As  it  happens  I  knew  her  in  New  York  ten  years  ago, 
before  she  was  married,  and  I've  met  her  off  and  on 
ever  since."  He  paused,  and  the  bare  lids  narrowed 
over  his  eyes  malignantly.  "  Between  you  and  me, 


198  The  Dissolving  Circle 

she's  the  one  woman  in  my  life  whom  IVe  wanted  to 
get  near  to  and  failed." 

Phelps  wriggled  uncomfortably.  He  foresaw  a 
stormy  session. 

"  She's  been  married,  you  remember,"  he  palliated. 
"  Some  women,  you  know " 

"  Yes,"  hotly,  "  but  she  isn't  married  now,  damn 
her,  and  she  ignores  me  more  than  before.  What  do 
you  suppose  she  did  a  while  ago  when  I  called?  " 

Phelps  had  a  suspicion,  but  he  wisely  refrained 
from  the  admission. 

"  I  haven't  the  slightest  idea,"  he  lied. 

"  Well,  she  refused  to  see  me.  She's  taken  a  house 
out  in  the  suburbs  this  summer,  you  know.  And  worse 
than  all,  that  cursed  French  maid  of  hers  slammed 
the  door  in  my  very  face."  The  miniature  forest  of 
empty  bottles  jingled  against  each  other  as  the  visi 
tor's  fist  struck  the  board.  "  Yes,  fair  in  my  face,  as 
though  I  were  a  dirty  tramp." 

Inadvertently  the  boy  man  smiled.  The  tempta 
tion  was  irresistible. 

"  Phelps,  damn  you !  "  No  mistaking  the  meaning 
of  that  tone. 

"  Pardon  me."  The  smile  disappeared  like  a 
schoolboy  caricature  behind  a  moistened  sponge  at 
the  master's  approach.  "  You  must  admit,  however, 
it  was  rather  humorous." 

"  Humorous,  perhaps."  Tracy  made  a  w.ry  face. 
"  But  I'll  win  out  yet.  All  women  are  alike — if 
you've  got  patience."  The  boundless  egotism  of  the 


Ashes  199 

man  came  to  his  rescue.  "  She  doesn't  know  me.  I 
can  wait;  but  some  day  she'll  pay  dear  for  that  insult. 
You  mark  my  words.  Some  day  there'll  be  a 
reckoning." 

Phelps  bit  his  lip  to  keep  silence.  Never  before, 
sober  or  otherwise,  had  the  other  shown  himself  as 
he  really  was  so  completely,  so  shamelessly.  No 
model  personally,  the  revelation  nevertheless  nau 
seated  the  confidante.  He  had  previously  believed  the 
type  existed  only  in  fiction. 

"  But  I'm  wandering  from  my  original  purpose." 
Tracy  was  making  an  effort  to  be  companionable. 
"  You  haven't  told  me  yet  what's  keeping  you 
here." 

"  Oh,  nothing  much."  For  the  first  time  in  their 
acquaintance  Phelps  felt  an  extreme  distaste  to  men 
tion  his  own  affairs.  "  In  fact,  the  matter  will  be 
settled  out  of  court  this  week." 

"What's  to  be  settled?"  Tracy  frowned  warn- 
ingly  at  the  threatened  mutiny.  "  You've  roused  my 
curiosity." 

Very  near  to  actual  revolt  was  the  boy  man  that 
moment;  but  innate  vacillation  swayed  the  balance 
for  peace. 

"  It's  possession  of  the  kids,"  he  explained  grudg 
ingly.  "  I've  a  boy  and  a  girl,  you  know." 

"  Possession  of  the  kids !  "  Tracy  slapped  his 
thigh  uproariously.  "That's  good;  mighty  good! 
Gad,  who'd  have  thought  you  a  fond  father  like 
that!  "  He  roared  afresh. 


2OO  The  Dissolving  Circle 

Phelps  coloured  to  the  forehead,  his  child  chin 
stiffened;  but  he  held  silence. 

"  And  how's  it  coming  out?  "  The  mirth  had  sub 
sided  to  a  grin.  "  As  your  very  good  friend  I'm 
all  impatience." 

"  I  expect  to  get  the  boy,"  stiffly.  "  My  attorney 
says  he'll  know  positively  to-morrow — or  the  day 
after  at  the  latest." 

"  By  Jove,"  Tracy  shoved  his  chair  back  explo 
sively,  u  I  did  come  just  in  time!  A  few  days  more 
and  you  really  would  have  flown.  You  are  going  im 
mediately  it's  settled,  I  suppose?" 

"  Yes." 

"  Of  course,"  with  a  prodigious  wink,  "  of  course. 
Who  ever  heard  of  a  colonist — who  didn't  bring  his 
incentive  with  him  or  find  a  new  one  here — waiting 
for  the  second  train  after  his  unpleasantness  was  ad 
justed?  The  celerity  of  disappearance  has  become 
proverbial." 

Phelps'  efforts  at  self-repression  were  becoming 
painful,  and  the  other  observed  them  gloatingly.  He 
leaned  forward,  his  red  pitted  face  with  the  loose 
integument  under  the  eyes  contorted  into  the  travesty 
of  friendship. 

"  By  the  way,  old  man,  we'll  have  to  make  this  a 
red-letter  day.  Who  knows,  maybe  we'll  never  meet 
again.  Got  anything  in  stock  for  an  occasion  like  this, 
have  you?  "  He  glanced  at  the  bottles  on  the  table 
in  disgust.  u  You  know  what  I  mean.  Not  pap  for 
babies;  something  fit  for  men." 


Ashes  20 1 

Phelps'  hands  went  into  his  pockets  in  open,  dogged 
rebellion. 

"  No.     I  haven't  a  drop." 

44  All  right,"  obliviously.  "  It  won't  take  long  to 
supply  the  deficiency.  Touch  the  button,  will  you." 

The  red  left  the  other's  face,  but  he  did  not  move. 

44  I  requested,"  the  voice  was  a  bit  louder  than  be 
fore,  "  that  you  ring,  please." 

44  I  heard  you,"  tensely,  "  I'm  not  deaf." 

Tracy  leaned  forward,  his  narrowed  eyes  red  as 
twin  headlights. 

44  Why  the  devil  don't  you  do  it  then !  Ring,  I 
say." 

44 1  don't  choose  to.  Who  are  you  to  give  com 
mands,  anyway?  " 

"  Phelps " 

Both  men  were  on  their  feet;  but  the  smaller  in 
advance,  a  chair  between  him  and  the  aggressor,  his 
fingers  pausing  over  the  button  of  the  bell.  They 
glared  at  each  other  thus;  malice  unconcealed  on  the 
one  face,  disgust  and  more  on  the  other. 

44  Damn  you,  Stephen " 

44  Not  another  word."  Phelps'  free  hand  went  up 
compellingly;  from  repression  his  faded  blue  eyes 
burst  into  open  flame.  u  I've  stood  the  last  straw 
from  you,  Norman  Tracy.  Another  sentence  and  so 
sure  as  I'm  standing  here  I'll  call  the  police."  The 
soft  boy  throat  of  him  swelled  until  his  collar  was 
choking  tight.  4<  You  ordered  me  out  of  your  room 
once,  you  bully.  It's  my  turn  now.  God  knows,  I'm 


2O2  The  Dissolving  Circle 

bad  enough,  human  enough;  but  you — go.     I  don't 
wish  to  tell  you  what  I  think  of  you.    Go." 

«  phelps " 

"  Enough,  I  say.  I  won't  stand  another  word." 
Face  to  face  for  the  last  time  in  their  lives  the  two 
men,  pilgrims  alike  from  afar  to  a  common  shrine, 
a  shrine  intended  for  neither,  perverted,  but  in  dif 
ferent  degrees  by  both,  stood  looking  at  each  other. 
IA  dragging  half  minute  they  stood  so,  each  taking 
the  other's  measure,  each  flaming  hot  with  suppressed 
enmity.  At  last,  against  his  will,  for  no  reason  he 
would  have  admitted  adequate,  Tracy's  eyes  dropped 
and  he  moved  toward  the  door.  In  the  silence  the 
other  had  demanded,  without  even  a  parting  thrust, 
it  closed  behind  him. 

Mrs.  Waldow  herself  was  bustling  about  the  cheery 
east  room  putting  things  to  order.  That  something 
was  on  her  mind  was  obvious.  She  dusted  the  well- 
littered  reading  table  twice  and  caught  herself  just 
in  time  to  prevent  a  second  repetition;  unfailing  cri 
terion  of  abstraction  in  one  of  her  methodical  habit. 
That  of  her  own  initiative  the  irritant  would 
not  be  divulged  was  equally  obvious  from  the  re 
pressed  line  of  her  thin  lips.  From  time  to  time  she 
glanced  surreptitiously  at  the  motionless  figure  in  the 
big  chair  by  the  window;  but  she  hazarded  no  re 
mark.  At  last,  her  work  complete,  she  paused;  her 
arms  akimbo,  the  tiny  roll  of  hair  perched  on  the 
back  of  her  head  looking  like  an  overgrown  walnut. 


Ashes  203 

"Anything  more  I  can  do  for  you,  miss?"  she 
proffered. 

"  No,  I  think  not.  You  brought  the  ice-water, 
didn't  you?" 

"  Yes,  miss." 

"  That's  all  then,  I  believe." 

The  landlady  picked  up  her  dusting  cloth  and 
started  to  leave. 

"  By  the  way," — the  girl  did  not  look  around,  yet 
when  shrewd-eyed  Mrs.  Waldow  glanced  at  her  she 
knew  from  the  tinge  of  the  tiny  ears  that  the  brown 
face  was  burning, — "  did  Mr.  Tracy  come  home  last 
night?" 

"  No,  miss." 

"  Nor  the  night  before?  " 

Mrs.  Waldow  hesitated  uncomfortably. 

"  He  hasn't  used  his  room  for  two  days  now," 
she  admitted  at  last. 

"  Not  at  all?  "  The  flame  had  departed  from  the 
ears  leaving  them  pink  again. 

The  landlady  hesitated  longer  than  before,  finger 
ing  the  loose  sleeve  of  her  working  sacque  in  an  in 
decision  most  unusual. 

"  Frankly,  miss,"  she  was  not  looking  at  the  ques 
tioner,  and  the  announcement  came  hurriedly,  as 
though  she  were  in  haste  to  have  it  over,  "  the  room 
is  vacant.  Mr.  Tracy  moved  out  day  before  yester 
day  morning. 

"  I  realise  it's  none  of  my  business,"  the  silence  had 
lasted  so  long  that  the  woman  was  genuinely  contrite, 


204  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"and  maybe  I  oughtn't  to  have  told  you;  but" — 
she  essayed  an  apologetic  glance — "  but  it  seemed  to 
me,  somehow,  as  though  you  ought  to  know." 

"  I  understand.  You  did  quite  right."  The  voice 
was  repressedly  unemotional.  "  Did  he  happen  to 
mention  where  he  was  moving?  " 

"  I  didn't  see  Mr.  Tracy  himself,  miss.  The  man 
who  came  said  the  things  were  going  to  The  Cata 
ract." 

Again  there  was  silence  for  so  long  that  the  land 
lady  grew  uncomfortable. 

"  You're  sure,"  she  repeated  solicitously,  "  that 
there's  nothing  more  I  can  do?  " 

The  girl  still  looked  out  of  the  window;  across  the 
patch  of  green  onto  the  hot,  dusty  street. 

"  You  might,  come  to  think  of  it,  bring  over  the 
little  table.  I'll  write  a  few  letters  after  a  bit.  Thank 
you.  That's  all.  I'll  ring  if  I  need  you." 

Alone,  suddenly  as  the  passage  of  an  April  cloud 
a  change  swept  over  the  dainty,  repressed  little  wo 
man.  The  lips,  before  so  firm,  twitched;  the  soft, 
oval  chin  trembled  uncontrollably;  colours  like  a  rain 
bow  danced  before  the  brown  eyes,  blotting  out  the 
uninviting  tan  of  the  roadway.  She  fought  at  them 
rebelliously,  with  little  dabs  of  her  crumpled  handker 
chief;  but  they  only  gathered  thicker  and  thicker. 
The  patter  of  passing  pedestrians'  feet,  never  ceasing 
by  day,  came  to  her  ears;  but  not  as  always  before 
did  it  bear  its  message  of  human  nearness,  human 
sympathy.  Instead  it  was  but  a  mockery.  Indifferent 


Ashes  205 

absolutely  these  people  were  passing  her  by;  everyone 
was  passing  her  by.  The  horrible  loneliness  of  a  pen 
niless  stranger  in  a  great  city,  of  a  traveller  lost  in  a 
desert,  fell  upon  her  crushingly.  The  chin  twitched 
more  than  before,  the  tears  became  a  flood,  and  in  an 
abandon  of  helpless,  hopeless  misery  she  rocked  to 
and  fro,  to  and  fro;  her  fingers  clasped  white  in  her 
lap. 

"  Oh,  what  have  I  done,"  she  sobbed  hysterically, 
"  what  have  I  done;  Oh!  oh!  oh!  "  repeated  again 
and  again.  "  Oh!  oh!  oh!" 

A  half  hour  passed,  and  the  storm  still  raged;  an 
hour,  and  from  pure  physical  exhaustion  it  was  still, 
and  the  girl  lay  back  passively  with  closed  eyes.  One 
o'clock  came — and  the  demure  maid  with  lunch;  but 
the  girl  sent  it  away  untasted.  The  tan-coloured  street 
was  in  shadow  from  the  high  cut  in  front  of  the 
house  before  she  roused  and,  bathing  her  swollen 
face,  rigidly  repressing  a  glance  into  the  mirror,  came 
back  and  sorted  out  paper  and  pen  in  preparation. 
Then  she  wrote  a  letter,  this  letter : 

"  Sioux  FALLS,  S.  DAKOTA, 

"  August  the  Second. 
"  DEAR  MUMSEY  :" 

Just  for  a  second  she  paused;  but  that  instant  was 
fatal.  The  old  childish  word  of  endearment  with  its 
suggestion  of  past  was  too  intimate,  too  throbbingly 
full  of  recollections.  Again  the  rainbows  danced  be 
fore  her  eyes,  and  ere  she  was  aware  two  great  tears 


206  The  Dissolving  Circle 

spattered  down,  mingling  in  fantastic  figures  with  the 
fresh  ink.  Very  resolutely  she  drew  back  to  arms' 
length,  that  it  might  not  occur  again,  and  took  up 
another  sheet. 

"DEAR  MOTHER:"  '(The  slough  was  carefully 
avoided  this  time.) 

"  I  know  you  think  me  naughty,  not  to  have  writ 
ten  you  before;  but  somehow  the  weeks  have  been 
so  full  and  I've  been  so  " — the  writer  paused  to  shake 
her  head  rebelliously.  The  words  were  becoming  very 
dim — "  happy  that  I've  neglected  everyone  except 
Norman.  Besides,  somehow,  after  the  way  I  left  I 
couldn't  write  until — you  understand — until  I  had 
something  definite  to  tell  you.  But  it's  all  right  now, 
mother  dear,  never  fear.  Norman  and  I  were  mar 
ried  " — again  the  words  were  dancing  like  bewitched 
things  and  for  a  whole  minutes  the  pen  was  idle — 
"  yesterday  in  the  rector's  own  room  at  the  rear  of 
the  big  church.  I  wanted  you  there,  wanted  you  so 
bad."  No  hesitation  now.  The  pen  was  fairly  rac 
ing  across  the  sheet — "  but  Norman  is  so  decided 
about  some  things.  He  wanted  it  so,  just  us  two 
alone — and  the  rector,  and  he's  been  so  good  to  me 
I  couldn't  refuse.  I  know  you'll  understand — and 
forgive  us.  We  do  both  love  you  dearly,  mother 
mine,  for  all  we  seem — peculiar."  It  was  the  bottom 
of  the  page  and  the  slender  brown  fingers  turned  the 
sheet  and  spread  it  flat  steadily. 

"  I  can't  write  much  to-day;  I'm  too  busy.     To- 


Ashes  207 

morrow  we  leave  for  a  long  trip;  I  don't  know  how 
long  or  just  when  we'll  be  back  home.  Norman's 
business  here  is  just  finished.  He's  been  getting  a 
franchise  or  something — I  don't  understand  the  least 
bit  these  deals  men  rack  their  brains  over — and  it's 
worried  him,  although  he  wouldn't  bother  me  with  it. 
But  now  it's  all  over  and  we  can  leave  here  for  good. 
He's  like  a  boy  to-day;  you  wouldn't  know  him.  He 
vows  he's  going  to  forget  business  and  everything — 
but  me — and  take  a  long,  long  rest.  I'll  write  you 
again,  mother  dear,  just  as  soon  as  I  have  time  and 
tell  you  all  about  myself,  about — everything. 

"  Meanwhile  good-bye,  and  here's  a  kiss  for  you; 
a  big,  big  one.    Oh,  I'm  so  happy,  so  happy! 
"  Your  own  daughter, 

"  EULA  TRACY. 

"P.  S.  I  enclose  a  letter  for  you  to  mail;  all 
stamped  and  addressed,  so  you'll  only  have  to  drop 
it  in  the  box.  He — you  know — thinks  I'm  still  at 
home,  and  it  would  be  a  bother  to  explain.  Take 
care  of  it,  please,  like  the  old  dear  you  are;  and  here's 
another  kiss  for  you ;  another  big,  big  one. 

"  EULA." 

The  second  letter,  like  the  latter  part  of  the  first, 
she  wrote  very  swiftly,  very  steadily,  and  addressed 
and  stamped  both  with  care.  She  was  calm  now,  was 
Eula  Felkner,  calm  as  at  that  other  time  which  seemed 
now  so  long  ago,  when  in  this  same  room  she  had 
looked  life,  and  Norman  Tracy,  fair  in  the  face.  In 


208  The  Dissolving  Circle 

some  inexplicable  way  a  purpose,  a  definite  purpose, 
had  evolved  from  chaos,  and  she  was  no  longer 
afraid;  no,  not  of  anything.  The  brown  face  was  a 
shade  greyish  and  looked  pinched  about  the  mouth, 
but  the  great  child  eyes  peered  forth  candidly,  tear- 
lessly.  Her  work  complete  she  rang  for  dinner,  and 
when  it  came  ate  almost  heartily. 

"  I've  an  errand  for  you,  Christine."  The  tiny 
tea  table  had  been  cleared  again  and  the  silent  maid 
had  paused  for  any  last  direction.  "  It's  this  letter. 
Will  you  mail  it,  please?" 

"  Yes,  miss." 

"  Mail  it  yourself — and  to-night?" 

"  Yes,  miss,"  repeated. 

"  Thank  you,  Christine."  A  sorry  little  smile 
flashed  for  an  instant  into  the  maid's  wondering  eyes. 
"  That's  all,  and  as  you  go  down  tell  Mrs.  Waldow, 
please,  I  wish  to  speak  with  her  a  moment." 

Very  shortly  the  landlady  appeared.  She  was  in 
the  glove-tight  pale  green  waist  again,  and  the  walnut- 
like  knot  of  hair  had  expanded  miraculously.  She 
paused  just  inside  the  door  in  obvious  uncertainty. 
For  a  moment  the  other  did  not  speak  and  the  new 
comer  shifted  from  foot  to  foot  awkwardly. 

"  Won't  you  have  a  light,  miss?  "  The  room  was 
falling  into  shadow  and  she  grasped  at  the  straw. 
"  It's  getting  dark  earlier  already." 

"  No,  not  yet."  The  girl  roused  with  an  effort. 
"Sit  down,  please;  over  here.  I  wish  to  talk  with 
you." 


Ashes  209 

The  other  complied  docilely;  so  completely  so  that 
anyone  knowing  the  usually  impassive,  worldly-hard 
landlady  would  have  looked  twice  to  convince  them 
selves  this  was  the  same  person. 

"  I  sent  for  you,  Mrs.  Waldow,"  the  girl  looked 
the  older  woman  fair  in  the  eyes  unfalteringly,  u  be 
cause  I  feel  it's  no  more  than  your  due  to  understand 
all  about  me,  about — everything.  You've  been 
very  good  to  me  since  I've  been  here,  Mrs.  Wal 
dow." 

"  Don't  speak  of  it,  miss."  One  work-worn  hand 
made  a  clumsy  gesture  of  deprecation.  u  I've  only 
done  what  I  was  paid  to  do,  what  any  other  landlady 
would  have  done." 

"  Perhaps,"  equivocally,  "  but  I'm  grateful  just  the 
same.  I  haven't  treated  you  at  all  nicely,  either;  I 
realise  that.  I  " — she  paused  before  casting  her 
thunderbolt — "  I  lied  to  you  when  I  first  came,  Mrs. 
Waldow." 

To  her  surprise  the  other  showed  none.  Obviously 
she  had  not  understood. 

"  My  name  isn't  Eula  Tracy  at  all,"  hurriedly, 
"  and  Norman  Tracy  is  no  relation  of  mine  what 
ever.  I  was  just  his — his "  She  halted;  against 

her  will  and  despite  the  friendly  darkness  the  flame 
was  again  burning  on  her  face.  Certainly  it  was  clear 
enough  now. 

"  Yes,  miss,"  soothingly,  but  still  with  no  curiosity. 
"  I  understood  that." 

"  You — knew  and  never  said  anything?  "     It  was 


aio  The  Dissolving  Circle 

the  alien's  wonder  again  at  the  tolerance,  the  indif 
ference  of  this  people.  u  Knew  all  the  time  ?  " 

The  older  woman  looked  away — and  not  to  smile. 
Beneath  her  impassive  mask  at  that  moment  she  had 
the  feeling  which  prompts  murder. 

"  My  business  is  not  to  meddle  with  other  people's 
affairs,  miss." 

The  red  left  the  girl's  face,  the  drawn  look  re 
appeared  about  the  mouth. 

"  My  real  name,"  she  reverted  to  the  dropped 
subject  relentlessly,  meaningly,  "  is  Marie  Bel- 
mont." 

"  Yes,  miss." 

The  girl  hesitated.  She  had  a  mind  to  repeat  it 
again  to  make  sure  the  other  understood,  would  not 
forget;  but  perforce  she  was  satisfied.  To  do  so 
would  be  too  significant.  Instead  she  looked  at  her 
companion  timidly,  almost  appealingly. 

"  This  brings  me  to  the  other  matter  I  wished  to 
speak  about.  Now  that  you  know  how — bad  I  am, 
maybe  you'd  rather  I  wouldn't  stay  with  you  any 
longer.  If  so  I'll " 

"  Don't,  please,  miss." 

"  I'll,"  the  girl  was  merciless  in  her  self-chastise 
ment,  "  move  away." 

The  older  woman  passed  her  hands  across  her  eyes, 
but  it  was  so  dark  now  that  one  could  not  tell  the 
cause. 

"  You  mustn't  think  of  going,  Miss — Miss  Bel- 
mont.  I  wish  you  to  stay  so  long  as  you  care  to." 


Ashes  211 

"  Thank  you  so  much."  The  girl  leaned  forward 
gratefully.  "  I  won't — bother  you  long  though,  any 
way.  A — month  or  so  is  all,"  with  elaborate  indefi- 
niteness. 

There  was  no  response,  and  of  a  sudden  another 
thought  came  into  the  girl's  mind. 

"  I  nearly  forgot  about  the — rent,"  she  suggested 
anxiously.  "  If  it's  due  I " 

"  Miss  Belmont "  No  mistaking  the  hurt  in 

the  voice  this  time. 

"  Pardon  me,"  hastily.  "  I — wished  you  to  under 
stand,  was  all."  She  choked  a  little  and  paused  to 
swallow  at  the  lump  which  all  at  once  had  returned 
to  her  throat.  "  You're  so  good  to  me.  I  don't 
know  how  you  can  be  when  I've — I've  lied  to  you 
the  way  I  have;  when  I'm  so  bad."  Once  more  she 
paused,  swallowing  hard. 

Mrs.  Waldow's  lips  parted — but  no  words  came. 
She  cleared  her  throat  instead  noisily,  and  lapsed  into 
silence. 

"  That's  all,  I  believe."  The  girl's  voice  had  be 
come  dull  again  and  she  leaned  back  wearily.  "  I 
don't  wish  to  keep  you  up  here  away  from  your  work 
any  longer."  For  an  instant  and  despite  the  shadow 
the  same  sorry  little  smile  which  had  set  the  maid 
a-wondering  flashed  in  reappearance.  "  Thank  you 
once  more  for — for  your  kindness." 

A  moment  there  was  silence,  silence  absolute;  then, 
interrupting,  transpired  the  unexpected.  The  room 
was  now  almost  dark,  and  of  a  sudden  rising,  the 


212  The  Dissolving  Circle 

landlady  made  her  way  forward  gropingly  until  she 
stood  fair  above  the  shadowy,  passive  figure  in  the 
big  chair.  An  instant  she  hesitated  so;  then  precipi 
tately,  clumsily  she  bent  over  and  touched  her  lips 
swiftly  once,  twice  to  the  round,  smooth  cheek.  Be 
fore  the  other  could  speak,  in  utter  stampede  at  her 
own  revelation,  she  fled  awkwardly  from  the  room; 
her  great  ungainly  bulk  colliding  noisily  with  every 
object  in  her  path. 


Chapter  XV 

THE   IRONY   OF   AGE 

"  COME  right  in."  Mrs.  Clayton,  amply  built,  moth 
erly  from  crown  to  heel,  opened  the  door  wide  and 
seized  the  visitor's  hand  with  a  grip  of  genuine  friend 
ship.  "  You  must  be  terribly  hot.  I  hated  awfully 
to  ask  you  out  in  a  day  like  this — and  in  the  worst 
of  it  too." 

"  Out !  "  The  big  voice  laughed  cheerily.  "  I 
haven't  been  in  yet  since  night  before  last."  The 
speaker  was  following  her  into  the  cool,  darkened 
library.  "  This  is  the  worst  spell  of  heat  I've  known 
since  I  came  here;  "  he  looked  at  his  companion  slyly, 
"  twenty-six  years " 

"  Twenty-five.  You  and  Anna  came  the  year  after 
Horace  and  me." 

"  That's  right."  The  man  corrected  himself  with 
swift  humility,  and  they  both  smiled  as  though  the 
same  bit  of  repartee  had  not  been  gone  through  with 
uncounted  times  before.  "  It  is  twenty-five  years, 
come  to  think  of  it;  but  anyway,  this  is  the  hottest 
yet."  He  had  opened  a  side  door  half  concealed  in 
the  big  desk  as  though  thoroughly  familiar  with  his 
bearings.  "  Last  summer  was  the  nearest  approach, 
and  the  season  before  that  the  nearest  previously." 
He  grinned  at  his  own  joke.  "  Pardon  me,  I  don't 

213 


214  The  Dissolving  Circle 

do  this  very  often,  Margaret  " ;  he  had  poured  full  a 
tiny  decanter  and  drank  it  standing;  "  but  frankly  I'm 
about  beat.  Seems  as  though  every  patient  I  ever 
had — now  living  " — in  characteristically  whimsical 
qualification — "  are  all  down  together."  He  threw 
himself  into  a  big  chair  with  a  sigh  of  satisfaction  and 
his  round  face  with  its  grizzly,  closely  cropped  beard 
resumed  its  normal  smile.  "  What's  wrong,  Mar 
garet  ?" 

Mrs.  Clayton  observed  him  understandingly,  sym 
pathetically. 

"  The  trouble's  with  Horace,  and  is  the  same  as 
your  own.  He  was  up  all  last  night  too;  and  when 
he  came  home  this  noon  the  driver  had  to  help  him 
into  the  house."  The  faded  grey  eyes  moistened  in 
spite  of  rigorous  effort  to  remain  composed.  "  You 
men,  you  old  men,"  she  emphasised  deliberately,  "  are 
sheer  foolish  to  continue  the  way  you're  doing.  I'm 
ashamed  of  you  both ;  at  your  age  not  to  know  better 
than  to  kill  yourselves !  " 

u  Humph !  "  Ordinarily  the  reference  to  age 
would  have  evoked  a  fresh  flow  of  well-tested  rep 
artee,  but  now  the  big  man  only  tapped  the  chair 
arm  with  his  knuckles  meditatively.  "  Humph !  "  he 
repeated.  "Where  is  Horace  now;  back  to  the 
office?" 

44  No,  I  wouldn't  let  him  leave.  He's  upstairs 
lying  down  instead."  The  maternal  cropped  out  as 
unmistakably  as  in  a  mother  hen  with  a  weakly  chick. 
"  Someone's  got  to  look  after  him." 


The  Irony  of  Age  215 

"  That's  right,"  approvingly.  "  You  did  just  what 
I'd  have  done — if  I  could.  I'll  go  right  up  and  see 
him." 

"  Not  just  yet,  please."  Mrs.  Clayton  held  up  a 
detaining  finger.  "  We  must  speak  lower  too,"  mod 
ulating  her  own  voice  in  conformity,  "  or  he'll  be 
down  here  on  us  unexpected;  and  first  I  wish  to  talk 
with  you  a  bit  alone.  That's  why  I  sent  for  you." 
She  leaned  forward  earnestly  with  the  instinctive  de 
pendence  of  old  friendship.  "  John,  between  us  we've 
got  to  make  him  go  away  for  a  while ;  go  clear  away 
without  anyone  knowing  where  and  without  his  pa 
tients  even  knowing  he's  going  until  he's  gone. 
They'll  never  let  him  leave  otherwise ;  and — he's  sim 
ply  got  to  have  a  rest.  You  understand.  He'll  never 
hold  up  a  week  longer  with  things  as  they  are." 

For  answer  Ingley  merely  screwed  up  one  side  of 
his  face;  but  his  meaning  was  obvious. 

"  I  know  you  think  he  won't  consent,  but  I  tell  you 
he's  simply  got  to."  Again  she  leaned  toward  her 
companion  with  the  old  motion  of  confidence  implicit. 
"  You're  the  only  person  in  the  world,  John,  who 
can  make  him  listen  to  reason.  Promise  him  you'll 
take  care  of  his  practice,"  in  the  selfishness  of  affec 
tion  she  was  totally  oblivious  of  the  favour  she  was 
asking,  u  promise  him  anything.  I'll  have  our  bag 
gage  all  ready  and  we'll  get  away  on  the  night  train ; 
before  he  has  time  to  change  his  mind.  He'll  go, 
John,  if  you  say  he  must." 

Again  the  big  doctor's  comic-actor  face  twisted 


216  The  Dissolving  Circle 

in  a  grimace;  but  motherly  Mrs.  Clayton  never 
dreamed  of  the  effort  it  cost.  She  had  never  felt  the 
dead  weariness  which  is  physical  torture  supreme. 

"  Very  well,"  Ingley  arose  at  last  with  an  effort 
and  drew  a  flaming  red  handkerchief  over  his  fore 
head  absently,  "  I'll  do  what  I  can."  He  started  to 
ward  the  stair  heavily.  "  Be  all  ready.  I  think 
maybe  I  can  convince  him." 

"  John,"  the  old  lady  hurried  ungracefully  across 
the  room  to  grasp  his  hand,  "  I  won't  try  to  thank 
you."  The  dim  grey  eyes  were  moist  again.  "  You 
know  how  Annie  would  feel  if  it  were  you." 

"  Yes."  As  wind  lifts  a  fog  the  man's  irritation 
of  a  moment  ago  vanished.  Instinctively,  from  the 
fulness  of  knowledge,  the  woman  had  selected  the  one 
adequate  suggestion.  "  Yes,  I  understand,  Margaret. 
I — understand." 

•  ••'•• 

"So  that's  all  you've  got  to  do!"  The  white- 
bearded  old  man  stretched  out  on  the  lounge  before 
the  open  window  was  wide-eyed,  and  the  visitor  lum 
bered  across  the  room  brusquely.  "  What  d'ye  call 
this  sort  of  laziness  anyway;  your  siesta?" 

"All  I've  got  to  do!"  Horace  Clayton  sniffed 
audibly.  "  If  I  were  like  some  young  practitioners 
I  could  name,"  he  inspected  the  newcomer  from  head 
to  shoe  sarcastically,  "  with  time  to  waste  making 
social  calls  during  office  hours  I  wouldn't  be  where 
I  am  now.  No,  sir,  this  is  not  a  siesta" 

"  I  see."     The  big  bandanna  handkerchief  came 


The  Irony  of  Age  217 

into  requisition  again.  "  You  don't  dignify  it  by  that 
name  yet.  It's  merely  a  nap."  The  one  chair  in  the 
room  squeaked  protestingly  as  it  felt  the  speaker's 
weight.  "  To  get  down  to  business,  I  just  dropped  in 
to  see  if  you  can't  take  care  of  a  little  of  my  extra 
work,  seeing  it's  a  dull  time  with  you."  He  removed 
his  big  steel-bowed  spectacles  and  polished  the  lenses 
deliberately.  "  I've  got  to  turn  it  over  to  some 
body,  and  I'd  as  lief  you  had  the  benefit  as  anyone." 

"  Take  care  of  your  overflow?  "  The  wrinkles  of 
the  invalid's  old  face  fairly  ground  on  each  other  in 
excess  of  irony.  "  Certainly.  Your  whole  practice 
just  as  easily  if  you  wish.  I'd  never  notice  the  differ 
ence.  Lock  up  any  time  you  see  fit  and  tack  a  notice 
on  the  door  telling  people  where  to  come.  I'll  do 
the  rest." 

As  deliberately  as  they  had  been  cleaned  the  visitor 
returned  the  glasses  to  his  nose  and  hitched  his  chair 
up  close  to  the  lounge.  Slowly,  at  first  softly  like 
the  distant  approach  of  an  express  train,  augmenting 
moment  by  moment  until  it  was  a  roar,  his  face  mean 
time  broadening  sympathetically,  Ingley  laughed; 
and  after  a  moment  a  minor  chord,  all  but  drowned 
by  the  major,  showed  that  the  other  had  joined  in. 
Following  for  a  minute  or  more  there  was  silence 
while  the  two  old  friends,  their  tribute  to  precedent 
paid,  looked  at  each  other  in  near-sighted  understand 
ing.  Then  Ingley  leaned  forward,  a  massive  elbow 
on  a  massive  knee. 

"  About  to  the  end  of  your  tether  for  the  present, 


2i 8  The  Dissolving  Circle 

aren't  you,  Horace  ?  "  he  sympathised.  "  The  way 
this  spell  of  heat  lasts  is  a  record-breaker.  I  never  be 
fore  saw  so  many  people  down  all  at  once,  did  you?  " 

"  No."  A  pillow  was  propped  under  the  white 
head  irritably.  "  Nor  such  an  epidemic  of  infants. 
The  town  will  double  population  this  year  if  the  pres 
ent  rate  holds  out." 

The  other  chuckled. 

"  No  wind  so  ill,  you  know,"  he  suggested.  "  It'll 
be  good  for  real  estate — sometime." 

"  Real  estate  be  hanged!"  The  white  whiskers 
fairly  bristled.  u  Mine  now  is  worth  more  than  I 
can  ever  make  use  of.  You  and  I  are  too  near  ceme 
tery  hill  to  care  for  future  advances,  John." 

Ingley  hitched  still  closer  appreciatively. 

41  At  last  you're  talking  sense,"  he  corroborated. 
"  That's  just  what  I  came  up  here  to  speak  about. 
You've  got  to  quit,  if  not  for  good  at  least  for  a 
while."  The  accompanying  look  was  big  with  mean 
ing.  '*  The  time  for  indefinite  promises  is  past. 
You've  got  to  go  now." 

Clayton  propped  himself  higher  and  looked  at  the 
speaker  suspiciously. 

"  Who  put  that  notion  into  your  head,  John  ?  Has 
Margaret  been  talking  to  you?  " 

"  Margaret  nothing,"  lied  Ingley  calmly. 
"  Haven't  I  eyes  in  my  head  and  can't  I  reason  out 
anything  when  I  find  you're  not  at  the  office,  but 
home  instead  in  your  present  shape  ?  You  must  think 
I've  gone  daft  rapidly.  I  tell  you  there's  no  alterna- 


The  Irony  of  Age  219 

tive.  It's  the  hill,  unless  you  go.  There's  no  use  in 
pretence." 

Clayton  changed  position  restlessly. 

"  I  know,  John,"  he  admitted,  "  and  understand 
you  mean  it  kindly.  I'm  going  to  quit  soon,  you 
know  I  am — we've  talked  that  over  before — but  just 
now  it's  impossible,  simply  impossible." 

"  Impossible,"  shortly.  "  Why?  Haven't  you  the 
ready  money?  If  not  I'll  lend  you " 

Clayton  sniffed  disgustedly. 

"  Afraid  then  the  sheriff  will  meet  you  at  the 
train?" 

"  Ingley,  you're  exasperating  as  the  devil  some 
times." 

"  Well,  answer  me  then.    Why  is  it  impossible?  " 

This  time  the  elder  man  sat  up,  and  the  contrast 
between  him  and  the  visitor  augmented.  As  years 
had  added  weight  to  the  one  they  had  taken  it  from 
the  other.  Sitting  there,  Horace  Clayton,  with  his 
white  crown  and  whiter,  clipped  beard,  appeared  all 
head  and  nerves.  Every  other  element  seemed  meta 
morphosed  in  the  development. 

"  Don't  talk  nonsense,"  he  protested  pettishly. 
"  It'd  be  easier  for  me  to  squeeze  into  Paradise  than 
to  leave  here  just  now." 

It  was  a  rare  opportunity  indeed,  but  Ingley  held 
himself  rigidly  in  check.  The  time  for  banter  had 
passed. 

"But  why?"  he  repeated  stubbornly.  "  You 
haven't  given  me  a  single  reason  yet." 


22O  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  Ingley,"  Clayton  scrutinised  the  other  with  al 
most  a  doubt.  "  I  never — thought  you'd  lose  your 
mind  completely.  Isn't  it  enough  that  I've  got  three 
patients  actually  in  danger  and  twice  as  many  more 
who  fancy  they  are;  to  say  nothing  of  the  other  cases 
I  mentioned  in  waiting  and  invariably  calling  just  at 
the  hour  one  can't  well  go?  If  that  isn't  sufficient 
reason  I  don't  know  what  on  earth  is." 

Ingley 's  great  jaw  settled,  folding  over  the  sup 
porting  hand. 

"  There  are  some  thirty-odd  other  doctors  listed 
in  the  directory.  Among  them  they  ought  to  be  able 
to  straighten  out  the  difficulty." 

Clayton  did  not  deign  a  reply,  and  Ingley  observed 
him  immovably. 

"  You  forget,  Horace,  that  this  isn't  a  case  of 
choice.  You've  absolutely  got  to  leave.  These  peo 
ple  will  dog  you  to  death  if  you're  within  their  reach. 
Listen  to  reason.  They'll  all  find  someone  else  when 
you're  gone." 

"  John,"  the  elder  man  repressed  himself  with  an 
effort,  "  I  can't  believe  it's  you  advising — this  thing. 
It's  not  like  you.  Are  you  joking?  " 

"  No,  emphatically  not.  I  meant  every  word  I 
said." 

For  a  moment  the  other  looked  at  him  dumbly; 
then  like  a  birthmark  the  red  sprang  out  above  the 
white  beard  line. 

"  John  Ingley,"  he  blazed,  "  if  you  were  any  other 
man  on  earth  I'd  order  you  out  of  the  house."  He 


The  Irony  of  Age  221 

paused  for  breath.  "  Can't  you  realise  that  some  of 
these  people  are  as  old  as  you  and  I;  that  I've  at 
tended  them  every  time  they've  been  sick  for  the  last 
twenty  years;  that  some  others  I  helped  bring  into 
the  world,  and  that  they  trust  me  like  their  own 
father  ?  To  leave  them  now  when  they  need  me  most 
would  be  like  deserting — Margaret.  You're  mad, 
man.  Stark  mad." 

Ingley's  massive  jowl  sank  lower  and  lower. 

44  Would  it  help  matters  any  for  you — or  them — 
if  you  were — dead?  " 

The  red  left  the  other's  wrinkled  face  as  suddenly 
as  it  had  come,  leaving  it  whiter  than  before. 

44  This  from  you  is — unkind,  John."  He  halted, 
weakly,  defencelessly.  "  Cruelly  unkind !  " 

Again  Ingley  held  himself  composed  with  an  effort. 

44  Perhaps."  He  looked  the  other  fixedly. 
44  Nevertheless,  what  I  tell  you  is  true.  You  can't 
go  on  with  your  work  if  you  want  to.  You  couldn't 
get  down  to  the  office  alone  to  save  your  life.  Try 
it,  if  you  don't  believe  me." 

Again  above  the  white  beard  line  the  hot  blood 
lifted  at  the  challenge. 

44  Very  well.  To  convince  you,  we'll  see."  Clay 
ton  stood  up  bravely  and  pulled  down  his  waistcoat. 
44  Are  you  going  along  with  me?  "  He  was  always 
very  careful  about  his  personal  appearance,  and,  step 
ping  over  to  a  mirror,  he  passed  a  comb  through  his 
thin  beard.  His  tie  was  likewise  askew  and  he  at 
tempted  to  straighten  it;  but  somehow  it  wouldn't 


222  The  Dissolving  Circle 

knot  correctly.  He  tried  again — and  to  his  surprise 
it  had  all  but  faded  from  view.  The  whole  room 
looked  queer  and  darkened.  Involuntarily  he  went 
staggering  to  the  window  to  raise  the  shade.  The 
curtain  went  up  with  a  snap,  he  heard  it — and  it 
was  no  lighter!  A  moment  longer,  in  the  fulness 
of  understanding,  he  stood  there,  battling  against  the 
inevitable;  then  weakly,  stumblingly  he  dropped  back 
on  the  lounge.  A  full  minute  he  lay  there,  breathing 
hard;  then  in  utter  rout  he  turned  facing  the  other 
directly. 

"  You're  right,  John,"  he  admitted.  "  I'm  at  the 
end  of  my  tether.  I'm — beat." 

Ingley  said  nothing.    The  leaven  was  working. 

"  I've  looked  forward  a  long  time  to — a  moment 
like  this."  Clayton  passed  his  hand  over  his  fore 
head  and  it  came  back  damp.  "  I've  seen  it  was  com 
ing,  but  " — haltingly — "  but  I  never  fancied  anything 
as  bitter  as  the  reality."  He  looked  at  the  big  man 
fixedly,  with  a  new  intimacy — the  instinctive  comrad- 
ery  of  age.  "  We're  old  men,  John.  We're  not  go 
ing  to  be,  we  are.  It's — ghastly,  isn't  it?  Ghastly!  " 

Ingley's  free  hand  made  a  motion  of  depreca 
tion. 

"  Let's  not  think  of  it,"  he  evaded  quickly.  u  It's 
useless." 

But  the  other  was  down  and  he  acknowledged  the 
fact. 

"  I  can't  help  it;  and  the  worst  is  that  all  I  can 
see  is  the  injustice,  the  damnable  injustice !  "  His 


The  Irony  of  Age  223 

old  eyes  blazed.  "  Here  we've  worked  a  lifetime  to 
build  up  a  practice,  worked  day  and  night,  in  all 
seasons  and  all  kinds  of  weather;  and  now  that  we've 
succeeded  the  thing  we've  builded  turns  on  us  and 
grinds  us  down,  down,  without  mercy !  "  He  halted 
and  gradually  the  blaze  died  in  reminiscence.  "  It's 
like  the  snowballs  we  started  on  the  hills  when  we 
were  boys.  We  rolled  and  rolled  until  they  were  big 
enough  to  move  of  themselves.  Then  we  got  below 
and  held  them  back  until  somehow  we  lost  our  foot 
ing  and — you  remember  what  they  did  then — they 
went  right  over  us  and  away  while  we  lay  sprawling 
and  digging  the  snow  out  of  our  eyes.  We  didn't 
learn  anything  from  that  lesson  did  we,  John?  " 

"  No,  we  never  learn  much  from  lessons  in  this 
life." 

They  were  silent  for  a  long  time.  The  hot  after 
noon  sun  moved  farther  to  the  west;  peered  in  on 
them  smilingly.  Ingley  arose  and  drew  the  shade. 
His  old  brusqueness  returned. 

"  This  sort  of  thing  is  childish,  worse  than  child 
ish,"  he  announced  gruffly.  "  The  thing  to  do  is 
not  to  rebel,  but  to  accept  the  inevitable  and  make  the 
best  of  it.  Nature  won't  make  an  exception  to  her 
scheme  for  our  particular  benefit,  that's  certain."  He 
sat  down  again  heavily.  "  To  return  from  where  we 
strayed;  you're  ready  to  go?  " 

Clayton  writhed — but  he  was  beaten. 

"  Yes." 

"And  your  work?" 


224  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  I  haven't  considered  that — yet."  He  looked  at 
the  big  man  hopelessly,  almost  appealingly.  "  I'll 
have  to  get  some  young  man  to  take  charge  of  it, 
I  suppose." 

Ingley  hesitated.    He  was  tempted. 

"Nonsense!"  His  manner  was  exaggeratedly 
gruff  again.  "I'll  take  care  of  things  myself;  your 
old  patients,  anyway.  I  may  have  to  get  help  with 
the  others.  Have  you  the  calls  with  you?" 

"  John,"  Clayton  was  sitting  up  again,  his  eyes 
very  bright,  "  I  know  what  this  means  to  you  now. 
I  can't  permit " 

"  Oh,  pshaw !  "  Ingley  cut  him  off  peremptorily. 
"  You'd  do  as  much  for  me  if  positions  were  reversed. 
Get  out  your  list  and  explain  things  a  bit." 

Again  Clayton  hesitated,  he  was  not  deceived;  but 
human  nature  is  weak  and  he  fell. 

"  I  won't  try  to  thank  you,  Ingley,"  he  halted, 
"  but  you  know  what  this  means  to  me."  He  pro 
duced  his  memorandum  almost  guiltily  and  for  ten 
minutes  went  from  name  to  name;  explaining,  com 
menting,  suggesting.  At  last  he  paused. 

"  And  the  other  list,"  assisted  Ingley;  "  the  one  of 
— prospective  arrivals." 

Clayton  opened  the  book  again. 

"  There's  but  one  case  liable  to  call  you  at  any 
hour  now.  It's  of  a  lady  down  on  South  Phillips 
Avenue.  The  name  she  gave  was  Belmont,  Marie 
Belmont;  and  the  number's  here."  He  hesitated 
thoughtfully.  u  Between  you  and  me  I  don't  be- 


The  Irony  of  Age  225 

lieve  everything  is  just  right;  but  I  suppose  that's 
none  of  the  doctor's  business." 

Ingley  thrust  the  memoranda  into  his  pocket. 

"  Yes,  you're  right;  that's  none  of  the  doctor's 
business.  We're  supposed  to  correct  other  people's 
mistakes;  not  sermonise  upon  them."  He  arose  and 
stood  looking  down  at  the  other  almost  affection 
ately. 

"  That's  all,  I  guess,  for  the  present.  I'll  speak 
to  Margaret  as  I  go  out  and  have  things  all  ready." 
He  started  for  the  door.  "  I'll  be  down  to  the  train 
to  see  that  you  don't  back  out." 

Clayton  looked  at  the  broad  departing  back;  and 
saw  it  but  dimly.  A  multitude  of  things  he  wished  to 
say,  an  avalanche  of  gratitude  tugged  at  his  tongue; 
but  somehow  he  had  no  words  to  express  either.  He 
dropped  back  to  the  pillows  weakly. 

"  God  bless  you,  John  Ingley,"  he  voiced.  "  God 
bless  you !  " 

And,  agnostics  both,  the  other  understood. 


Chapter  XVI 

A   BREATH    OF   THE   WILD 

JOHN  INGLEY  dropped  into  the  most  convenient  of 
Watson's  cane-seated  chairs  and  sat  for  a  full  minute 
speechless,  puffing  like  a  badly  overworked  tug. 

"  In  Heaven's  name,  man,"  he  queried  at  last  be 
tween  breaths,  "  how  do  you  get  up  here?  Do  you 
fly?" 

The  long  host  observed  his  visitor,  smilingly,  analy 
tically. 

"  No,"  he  explained.  "  The  solution  is  far  sim 
pler.  I  avoid  the  mistake  of  being  down — at  this 
time  of  morning." 

"  I  see.  A  most  commendable  practice."  Ingley 
consulted  his  watch  equivocally.  "  I  didn't  realise 
it  was  after  twelve.  But  how  about  your  night 
calls?" 

"  We  were  speaking  of  realities,  not  of  possibili 
ties,  Doctor." 

"Yes,  yes;  that's  true."  Ingley  knit  his  brows 
meditatively,  but  meanwhile  the  keen  eyes  behind  the 
great  steel-bowed  glasses  were  taking  in  every  detail 
of  the  unprosperous-looking  office.  His  inspection 
complete,  his  glance  halted  at  the  still  smiling  figure 
in  the  desk  chair.  "  Doubtless  you'd  like  the  possi 
bility  suggested  to  be  a  reality,  however?  " 

226 


A  Breath  of  the  Wild  227 

"  A  time  existed  when  I  should." 

Ingley  was  oblivious  of  the  mood  and  tense.  He 
was  thinking  of  other  things. 

"  Do  you  know  why  I  strained  my  lungs  climbing 
these  six  flights  of  stairs?  "  he  digressed  suddenly. 

"  I'm  compelled  to  admit  I  do  not,  Doctor." 

"  I  thought  so."  The  big  man  mopped  his  face 
deliberately  with  the  red  bandanna.  "  It's  because 
I've  met  you  some  half  dozen  times  at  society  meet 
ings  and  places  of  that  kind  and  still  you  pass 
me  on  the  street  without  being  conscious  of  my 
identity." 

Watson  waited  in  characteristic  silence. 

"  A  person  so  unsocial  or  abstracted  as  that  hadn't 
ought  to  leak  the  confidence  of  another  man's  prac 


tice." 


Still  Watson  held  his  peace  and  still  Ingley  ob 
served  him  under  knitted  brows. 

'You  know  Clayton,  Horace  Clayton,  I  sup 
pose?"  he  queried  directly. 

"Yes." 

"  I  just  helped  ship  him  away  for  a  rest,  for  I 
don't  know  how  long.  He's  worn  down  thinner  than 
an  old  scalpel." 

"  Yes,"  politely. 

"  Someone's  got  to  take  care  of  his  practice  while 
he's  gone.  I  agreed  to  be  responsible,  but  I  can't 
attend  to  it  all." 

"  Yes,"  once  more. 

Ingley  mopped  his  forehead  afresh.     Unusual  in 


228  The  Dissolving  Circle 

that  land  of  cool  nights,  it  was  still  almost  as  hot  as 
day. 

"  I've  sent  word  to  his  oldest  patients,  the  ones  he 
was  most  sensitive  about  leaving ;  but  there  are  others 
liable  to  call  him  at  any  minute."  The  visitor  thrust 
the  bandanna  back  into  his  pocket  with  an  air  of  re 
lief  that  explanations  were  so  nearly  complete.  "  You 
know  where  he  lives,  don't  you  ?  " 

"  I'm  compelled  again  to  admit  my  ignorance, 
Doctor." 

"  Well,  no  matter.  Any  hackman  will  take  you 
there."  The  big  man  fumbled  in  his  trousers'  pocket 
and  produced  a  couple  of  keys.  "  The  small  one's  to 
Clayton's  office,  the  other  to  the  rear  door  of  the 
house."  He  laid  them  side  by  side  on  the  table  de 
liberately.  "  In  the  hurry  they  couldn't  find  any  to 
the  front  door."  He  arose  laboriously  and  trans 
ferred  his  hat  from  his  knee  to  his  head.  "  If  I  were 
you  I'd  go  right  up  there  now.  There's  a  'phone  at 
the  head  of  his  bed.  You'll  find  the  room  easily; 
second  floor,  west  wing.  If  there's  anything  else  you 
wish  to  know  call  around  at  the  office  to-morrow. 
I'm  " — he  steadied  himself  for  an  instant  with  a  great 
hairy  hand  on  the  table  top — "  I'm  about  to  the  end 
of  my  own  rope  to-night." 

Watson  looked  from  the  visitor  to  the  keys  he 
had  deposited  so  arbitrarily,  and  back  again  impas 
sively. 

"  Just  one  thing  you  neglected."  He  checked  him 
self  suddenly.  The  weariness  of  the  big,  shapeless 


A  Breath  of  the  Wild  229 

figure  was  very  apparent.  "  I'm  sorry,  Doctor,"  he 
substituted,  "  but  you  haven't  given  me  a  chance  be 
fore  to  speak.  I  can't  do  what  you  suggest." 

The  other  faced  about  absently. 

"  I — beg  your  pardon?  " 

Watson  repeated  his  statement  without  comment. 

"You — refuse?"  For  a  moment  Ingley  ob 
served  the  speaker  blankly,  unbelievingly.  Obviously 
such  possibility  had  never  occurred  to  him.  Then  of 
a  sudden  the  bushy  brows  contracted  in  unconcealed 
irritation.  "  You  must  be  daft,  man,"  he  exploded. 
"  It's  the  chance  of  your  life.  Clayton's  got  the 
largest  practice  in  the  State,  and,  between  you  and  me, 
he's  as  liable  as  not  never  to  make  another  call.  You 
can  drop  right  into  his  shoes  if  you  show  yourself 
fit."  He  sat  down  again  clumsily.  "  I'd  have  given 
my  last  copper  for  this  opportunity  when  I  was  your 
age." 

"  I  understand,  Doctor."  Watson  had  leaned  back, 
his  eyes  half  closed,  and  sat  looking  past  his  visitor 
at  the  cheaply  papered  wall  behind,  "  and — thank  you 
sincerely  for  your  kindness.  There  was  a  time  when 
I  too  would  have  bartered  with  Providence  for  this 
opening;  but  now  " — he  halted.  Confidence  did  not 
come  easily  from  this  man — "  but  just  now  it's — im 
possible." 

One  of  Ingley's  great  hands  was  tapping  on  the 
edge  of  his  chair  seat;  as  it  had  tapped  in  Horace 
Clayton's  bedroom. 

"  Would  you  mind  telling  me  why,  Doctor  Wat- 


230  The  Dissolving  Circle 

son?  I'm  an  old  man  and — crabbed  when  I'm  tired; 
but  I'd  be  glad  to  do  you  a  good  turn  if  I  can." 

The  broadly  candid  eyes  shifted  to  the  other's  face, 
held  there. 

"  I   believe   you,    Doctor It's   because   I'm 

going  away.  I  should  have  been  gone  now  but  the 
party  who's  to  take  my  few  belongings  was  delayed 
in  coming.  He'll  be  here  to-morrow,  though,  sure 
or — I'll  go  anyway." 

The  tapping  ceased. 

'  You — fancy  there  are  other  openings  more 
promising  more  than  the  one  I  suggested?  " 

"  No,  it's  not  that."  Another  halt  and  another 
struggle  with  innate  reticence.  "  I'm  quitting  the 
town,  quitting  the  profession  for  good.  I  never  ex 
pect  to  make  another  call,  Doctor." 

Unconsciously  the  tap,  tap,  tap  of  the  great  hairy 
hand  was  resumed. 

"  It's  difficult  for  me  to  understand.  You're 
going  into  some  other  line  of  work?  " 

"  After     a     time,     yes.     Meanwhile "     The 

voice  was  silent. 

Ingley  waited;  but  nothing  came. 

"  Pardon  me,  but " — the  bluff  old  doctor  was  al 
most  diffident — "  but  I  wish  to  be  of  service  if  I  can. 
You  must  have  a  very  good  reason  for  the  change?  " 

Watson  got  out  his  pipe  and  lit  it  absently. 

"  To  you  it  wouldn't  seem  adequate  in  the  least. 
To  me "  The  great  bushy  head  made  a  ges 
ture  of  deprecation.  "  It's  useless  to  explain." 


A  Breath  of  the  Wild  231 

Ingley's  keen  old  eyes  caught  the  motion;  his 
keener  old  brain  understood. 

"  Yes,  I  agree  it's  useless.  There's  but  one  in 
centive  capable  of  inducing  a  man  to  do  what  you 
intend:  a  woman — lost  or  gained." 

Across  the  narrow  table  the  two  men  looked  at  each 
other  fair;  the  elder  kindly  tolerant,  the  younger  as 
ever — inscrutable.  A  long  time  they  sat  so;  until 
the  tobacco  in  the  pipe  burned  to  ashes  and  went  dead. 

"  Yes,  you're  right — and  wrong."  Watson  re 
plenished  the  bowl  and  lit  it  afresh.  "  I  don't  mind 
telling  you  now."  He  looked  at  the  other  mean 
ingly,  frankly.  With  the  incredible  swiftness  two 
human  beings  will  sometimes  touch  they  had  in  those 
last  few  minutes  become  almost  as  father  and  son. 
"  It  was  a  woman,  the  necessity  of  keeping  her  in  civ 
ilisation,  which  made  me  what  I  am  now;  but  it's  not 
a  woman  who's  taking  me  back;  back  where  I 
began."  He  halted  as  though  that  were  all  there  was 
to  tell. 

"What  is  it  then?"  not  insistently  or  curiously; 
but  as  in  the  silence  of  a  sick  room  big  Ingley  would 
have  asked  concerning  a  patient's  ill.  "  I'm  your 
friend,  I  trust." 

"  Yes."  Watson  puffed  again  and  again  until  the 
ashes  glowed  and  the  smoke  lifted  as  a  cloud.  "  Yes; 
but  it's  hard  to  explain;  impossible  almost."  For  a 
second  the  wrinkles  clustered  about  his  eyes.  "  It's 
the  voice  of  ancestors  I  don't  know  even  by  name  call 
ing  me — back." 


232  The  Dissolving  Circle 

Ingley  made  no  comment.  He  knew  it  was  un 
necessary  now. 

Watson  smoked  a  moment  longer;  then,  clatter 
ing  amid  a  shower  of  sparks  the  pipe  went  to  the  table 
and  the  long  figure  straightened;  straightened  out  of 
its  last  trace  of  emotionless  passivity.  Of  a  sudden 
the  man  was  as  a  captured  wild  thing  scenting  its 
own. 

"  I'm,"  he  looked  his  companion  fixedly,  almost 
without  the  waver  of  an  eyelash,  "  what  every  man 
is,  Doctor;  product  of  heredity  and  environment.  My 
great-grandfather  was  an  adventurer;  my  grandfather 
a  trapper;  my  father  a  cattleman.  On  the  female 
side  God  only  knows  my  pedigree;  but  it's  wild  as 
the  frontier  itself.  My  father  was  married — they 
tell  me ;  the  others  were  not.  I  myself  was  born  on 
the  prairie — somewhere,  an  infinity  from  nowhere; 
and  thereafter  until  I  can  remember  the  record  is 
blank."  A  restless  sinewy  hand  combed  once  through 
the  speaker's  mane  and  returned  to  his  lap;  but  his 
eyes  never  shifted.  u  After  that  until  I  was  twenty 
it  was  almost  as  bare.  I  did  what  every  other  human 
being  thereabouts  of  my  age  and  sex  did;  worked, 
hated,  dissipated — went  the  frontier  gamut.  How 
I  broke  away  then,  why  I  wished  to  see  the  other 
side  of  life,  the  evolved  side,  I  leave  to  someone  else 
to  explain,  I  can't;  but  I  did.  That  I  would  be  away 
ten  years,  though,  as  I  have,  I  had  no  more  idea  then 
than  that  I  would  visit  Mars.  That's  where  environ 
ment  and — woman  comes  in,  Doctor." 


A  Breath  of  the  Wild  233 

"  Yes,"  appreciatively,  for  the  narrative  had  halted. 

"  Those  last  years,"  for  the  first  time  the  blue 
eyes  shifted,  "  it's  needless  to  detail — you  understand 
by  intuition.  Through  them  all  I  was  the  same; 
through  all  flowed  the  blood  of  my  ancestors;  it  had 
merely  collided  with  something  else  stronger.  It  was  a 
fight  daily,  hourly;  but  against  the  field  one  instinct 
won.  During  the  years  I  worked  my  way  through 
preparatory  school  and  college  it  won.  While  I  was 
out  in  a  God-deserted  little  town  it  won.  After  I 
came  here  for  a  little  time  it  still  won;  then — * 

then It  was  not  the  instinct  that  failed  even 

then,  Doctor — not  the  instinct." 

"  I  see."  In  the  impotency  of  language  big  Ingley 
could  find  nothing  else  to  say.  "  I  see." 

For  the  second  time  Watson's  eyes  came  back. 
For  the  second  time  every  muscle  went  taut. 

'  You  know  now,  Doctor,  as  nearly  as  any  human 
being  can  make  another  understand,  why  I'm  going, 
why  it's  inevitable.  No  other  incentive  on  God's 
earth:  pleasure,  celebrity,  wealth,  can  hold  me  back. 
The  wild  is  in  my  blood,  bred  there,  ineradicable. 
I'm  like  a  house-dog  in  the  fall  when  the  first  touch 
of  frost  is  in  the  air  and  the  moon  is  full.  He  doesn't 
know  why  he  barks  all  the  night  long,  but  I  do.  I 
too  then  want  to  howl,  like  an  Indian,  like  a  drunken 
cowboy;  and  I  know  the  reason."  Taciturn  by  na 
ture  and  by  habit,  for  the  one  time  in  his  life  he  had 
ever  made  a  human  being  confidant — like  a  prairie 
stream  in  springtime  roaring,  irresistible  for  a  day 


234  The  Dissolving  Circle 

and  a  night  with  flood  water,  and  then  again  silent — " 
Watson  rushed  on :  "  I've  scarcely  left  the  office  this 
summer;  the  limits  of  the  town  not  at  all.  I  didn't 
dare  to.  If  I'd  ever  gotten  away  from  things  which 
made  me  remember,  ever  caught  the  real  prairie  scent 
in  my  nose,  I'd  have  gone.  A  regiment  couldn't 
have  held  me.  I  know  I'm  a  child,  Doctor,  a  savage ; 
but  I  am  as  I  am.  Even  if  I  stayed  I'd  be  a  failure 
now;  a  hopeless,  inexcusable  failure.  I'm  impossible 
wholly.  You  may  as  well  give  me  up." 

Ingley's  great  jowl  had  settled  lower  and  lower, 
until  his  chin  was  concealed.  Now  it  lifted. 

"  I  never  give  up — until  death.  It's  my  one  creed. 
Besides,  you're  too  good  to  lose."  The  remark  was 
as  candidly  impersonal  as  the  reading  of  a  newspaper 
headline.  "  I've  had  my  eye  on  you  for  a  long 
time  and,  frankly,  I  like  you.  I  don't  know  why, 
but  I  like  you.  I've  known  Clayton  was  going  to 
drop,  and  drop  all  of  a  sudden ;  and  I  had  you  in  mind 
as  his  successor  all  the  while.  It's  " — he  screwed 
up  his  face  indescribably — "  it's  rank  nonsense  for  you 
to  talk  of  leaving  now.  I  refuse  to  even  con 
sider  it." 

As  he  had  anticipated,  there  was  no  answer;  but 
the  pause  gave  him  chance  to  think,  to  summon  up 
fresh  logic. 

"  I  " — he  did  not  attempt  to  look  the  other  fair, 
he  knew  he  could  not — "  I  realise  the  feeling  you — 
described,  the  call  of  heredity,  of — isolation;  but  we 
must  all  of  necessity  deny  ourselves  something.  We 


A  Breath  of  the  Wild  235 

owe  it  to  our  fellow  men.  There  are  multitudes  who 
can  do  the  work  you  did  in  the  frontier  country;  but 
here — we  need  you,  that's  all." 

"  I  scarcely  hoped  you'd  understand,  Doctor." 
Watson  was  smoking  again,  deliberately,  impassively. 
"  It's  not  to  be  expected." 

"  Besides,"  Ingley  ignored  the  suggestion  obvi 
ously,  "  we're  living  in  a  practical  generation.  An 
established  income  isn't  to  be  despised.  We  can 
sentimentalise  all  we  wish;  but  a  time's  coming, 
and  coming  mighty  fast — we  old  fellows  realise  that 
— when  age  stares  us  in  the  face  and  then Sen 
timent  doesn't  buy  comforts  then." 

Again  the  big  man  paused ;  and  again  he  could  not 
look  the  other  fair.  He  began  to  feel  warm  and  he 
loosed  the  buttons  of  his  vest  clumsily. 

"  I  suppose  for  a  time,"  he  stumbled  on,  "  you'd 
find  it  hard  to  stay.  Probably  you'd  have  to  cut 
loose  now  and  then,  give  yourself  lots  of  tether;  but 
later " 

«  Doctor " 

The  big  man  halted;  but  he  still  looked  away. 

"  Doctor  Ingley " 

It  was  impossible  to  feign  misunderstanding  this 
time.  The  gaze  shifted  reluctantly. 

"  Don't  do  it."  Watson  had  leaned  far  forward 
and  he  was  smiling,  actually  smiling,  fair  into  his 
companion's  eyes.  "  Nature  didn't  fashion  you  for 
dissimulation.  You're  as  transparent  as  thin  ice." 

For  a  second  longer  Ingley  struggled  to  maintain 


236  The  Dissolving  Circle 

the  masquerade ;  then  of  a  sudden  his  great  bulk  went 
lax  in  the  reaction  of  utter  weariness. 

"  Yes,"  he  admitted  monotonously,  "it's  useless; 
I  knew  that  all  the  time.  I — understand."  For  no  ap 
parent  reason  he  passed  his  hand  slowly  across  his 
mouth.  "  I'm  a  fool;  an  old  fool;  and  selfish  in  the 
matter  absolutely.  I  wished  you  to  stay  for  Clayton, 
but  I  wanted  you  more  on  my  own  account.  I'm  about 
— finished  myself,  and  I've  been  looking  for  someone, 
a  young  man,  to  take  my  place."  Again  the  uncon 
scious,  useless  motion.  "  I'd  have  spoken  before, 
but  I  was  so  egotistically  cock  sure  you'd  jump  at 
the  chance  that  there  seemed  no  hurry.  Some  day 
when  you  too  are  beaten,  you'll  understand  how  hard 
it  is  to  find  someone  to  take  your  place."  He  re 
called  himself  suddenly.  "  No,  you'll  never  under 
stand  now.  But  it's  a  disappointment.  I  don't  know 
where  else  to  turn." 

Long  before  the  smile  had  left  Watson's  face  and, 
his  eyes  half  closed,  he  too  leaned  back,  motionless. 
When  the  other  had  completed  he  still  did  not  stir; 
only  waited. 

For  a  long  time,  for  longer  than  abstracted  Ingley 
realised,  they  sat  so;  the  stillness  absolute  of  early 
morning  upon  the  building,  upon  all  the  world  sur 
rounding.  Then  again  the  big  man  roused,  looked 
squarely  into  those  other  shaded,  inscrutable  eyes. 
No  need  of  dissimulation  now. 

"  Doctor  Watson,"  he  had  grown  almost  formal, 
"  I  shan't  try  to  influence  you  again.  I  understand 


A  Breath  of  the  Wild  237 

that  of  necessity  every  man  knows  himself  best;  what 
he  can  do  and  what  he  cannot.  I  admit  again  that 
my  other  reasons  for  your  staying  were — what  I  said; 
that  I  wouldn't  consider  them  myself.  Go  if  you  see 
fit,  and  with  my  best  wishes;  but" — the  formality 
left  the  voice,  the  apology  as  well — "  but  there's 
another  reason  I  didn't  give.  I'm  an  old  man  and 
you're  a  young  one.  You  think  now  you've  lived  the 
cycle,  that  there's  nothing  in  life  but  nature  left.  I've 
known  human  beings  before  who  felt  the  same  way 
and — I've  watched  them  change.  I  repeat,  I'm  an 
old  man  and  I've  practised  medicine  for  twenty-five 
years.  I've  had  my  full  share  of  confessions  and 
confidences.  If  he  knows  nothing  else  on  earth,  an 
old  doctor  knows  human  nature;  better  than  a  law 
yer,  better  even  than  a  priest."  Ingley  had  forgot 
ten  that  it  was  far  toward  morning,  forgotten  that 
he  was  very,  very  tired.  Beneath  the  unkempt 
brows  his  eyes  met  the  other's  steadily,  almost  chal- 
lengingly.  "  Knows  human  nature,  I  say;  and  human 
nature's  the  same  the  world  over.  You  may  fancy 
you're  the  exception;  but  you're  not.  There  are  no 
exceptions.  Fundamentally  you  and  I  and  the  bil 
lion  others  are  stamped  from  the  same  die;  and  the 
foundation  upon  which  that  pattern  rests,  has  always 
rested  and  will  continue  so  to  do  while  life  exists,  is 
sex.  Any  young  man  who  has  lived  ten  years  more  or 
less  in  contact  with  women,  who  has  experienced — 
what  you  admit  you  have  known — and  still  fancies 
he  can  turn  primitive  for  the  remainder  of  his  life, 


238  The  Dissolving  Circle 

is  bound  to  be  disillusioned.  It's  as  inevitable  as 
summer  and  winter;  as  inevitable  as  death." 

The  big  man  paused  for  a  refutation;  but  there 
was  none  and  in  pure  abstraction  he  drew  the  great 
steel-bowed  spectacles  from  his  nose  and  polished  the 
lenses  fumblingly. 

"  As  inevitable  as  death,"  he  repeated.  "  You'd 
be  back  here,  or  to  some  other  city,  in  my  lifetime." 

The  pipe  left  Watson's  lips. 

"  Back,"  the  query  was  unemotional  as  the  half- 
closed  eyes,  "  for  the  sake  of  woman  in  the  abstract?  " 

"  No."  The  spectacles  went  to  the  light  for  in 
spection,  returned  to  their  places.  "  Back  for  the 
sake  of  some  other  woman  you  already  knew;  whom 
you  know  now." 

There  was  no  response  and  Ingley  shifted  nearer 
the  table. 

"  With  you  at  present  one  instinct  shadows  all 
life;  but  another  has  proven  itself  bigger  once  and  it 
will  again.  You're  not  sixty,  as  I  am,  but  thirty; 
and  there's  a  long  time  between  to  think.  If  you 
were  your  father  or  your  grandfather  you  might 
never  return,  you  might  adapt  yourself  to  the  sur 
roundings,  do  as  they  did;  but  you're  not.  You're 
yourself  and  evolved  beyond  their  conception.  You 
couldn't  revert  if  you  would.  You'd  run  against  a 
wall  higher  than  heredity  itself.  I  repeat,  I'll  see 
you  back  in  my  lifetime." 

Again  there  was  silence  for  so  long  that  at  last 
Ingley  remembered  and  he  drew  out  his  watch  for  the 


A  Breath  of  the  Wild  239 

second  time  clumsily.  For  a  moment  he  looked  at  it 
enigmatically,  then  his  face  screwed  itself  into  a  grim 
ace  of  disgust. 

"  I  knew  I  was  becoming  senile,  but  I  didn't  realise 
the  extent.  It's  nearly  four  o'clock."  He  arose 
with  an  effort  and  put  on  his  hat.  "  I'm  going 
home." 

"  Just  a  moment,  please."  Watson  too  had  risen 
and  stood  very  straight  with  folded  arms  beside  his 
chair.  The  childishly  frank  eyes  had  opened  wide 
now,  but  the  long,  clean-shaven  mask  was  impene 
trable  as  before.  "You  were  born  in  a  city,  always 
lived  in  cities  large  or  small,  I  believe,  Doctor?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  You  come,  I've  heard,  of  a  long  line  of  profes 
sional  men,  urban  men;  your  father  was  a  physician, 
your  grandfather  another?  " 

"  Yes,"  again. 

"  And  you've  never  known  personally,  even  for  a 
year,  the  reverse — the  real  prairies,  the  foothills,  the 
bad  lands,  the  smell  of  gama  grass?  " 

"  No;  I've  been  very  busy." 

"  Nor,"  insistently,  "  ever  felt  the  slightest  desire 
to  do  so?" 

"  No,"  again,  reluctantly. 

There  was  a  halt  while  the  two  men  looked  at  each 
other;  a  silence  which  by  its  adequacy  made  mere 
words  seem  trite  and  peurile. 

"  That's  all."  The  long  figure  went  lax  once  more. 
The  blue  eyes  smiled.  "  You're  not  going  home  to- 


240  The  Dissolving  Circle 

night,  though,  by  the  way.  You're  to  sleep  right 
here." 

For  a  moment  Ingley  hesitated  in  complex  silence ; 
but  at  last  he  glanced  about  the  place  significantly. 

"Here?" 

"  Yes.     I'll  show  you." 

As  once  before  the  pantasote  lounge  underwent 
transformation  into  a  visitor's  bed — and  again  the 
appeal  of  the  clean  white  linen  was  irresistible. 

"And— you?" 

The  host  could  not  but  have  remembered  the  iden 
tical  repetition;  but  he  gave  no  sign. 

"  Don't  worry  about  me.  My  practice  hasn't  been 
exacting  in  the  least  to-day." 

From  the  speaker  Ingley's  eyes  returned  to  the 
bed,  and  wandered  back  again.  The  two  keys,  the 
latch  and  the  Yale,  were  still  upon  the  table,  and  on 
the  way  he  encountered  them.  Like  the  whiteness 
of  the  sheets  themselves  their  appeal  was  not  to  be 
resisted. 

"  You,"  he  did  not  look  up,  "  refuse  then  absolutely 
to  do  what  I  called  to  ask,  Doctor?  " 

The  smile  left  Watson's  eyes  and  for  an  instant 
in  its  place  stood  revealed  another  expression :  a  look 
of  hopeless,  wordless  isolation  no  other  human  being 
had  ever  seen;  then  swift  as  the  changing  colours  in 
a  kaleidoscope  they  were  childishly  impenetrable  once 
more. 

"  Refuse,"  pressed  Ingley  hurriedly,  "  to  stay  even 
until  Clayton  returns  ?  " 


A  Breath  of  the  Wild  241 

For  a  dragging  minute  wherein  the  questioner  ex 
pected  anything  there  was  no  response;  then  slowly 
Watson  came  forward  until  he  stood  facing  the  op 
posite  side  of  the  littered  table. 

"  Doctor,"  the  steady  gaze  held  the  other  gravely, 
relentlessly,  "  do  you  really  wish,  wish  very  much, 
that  I  should  stay?" 

"  Yes.  I — like  you,  Bruce  Watson/1  It  was  the 
man's  supreme  tribute,  his  last  appeal.  "  I  wish  very, 
very  much  that  you  wouldn't  go." 

Again  seconds  passed,  gathered  into  a  minute,  dod 
dered  on  into  another. 

"  Very  well."  Watson  drew  up  the  desk  chair 
dispassionately,  and  sitting  down  filled  the  rank  pipe 
afresh.  "  I'll  take  possession  of  Clayton's  house  and 
office  in  the  morning."  He  struck  a  match  and  for  a 
moment  the  flame  lit  up  his  face;  but  it  revealed 
nothing.  "  This  much  I'll  promise  you;  but  whether 
I'll  stay  a  day  or  a  week  or  a  year  I  can't  promise." 
He  glanced  up  through  a  haze  of  smoke.  u  Do  you 
wish  me  to  accept  on  these  terms,  Doctor?  " 

For  a  moment  Ingley  returned  the  glance ;  then  al 
most  exultingly  he  turned  to  the  lounge  and  began  to 
disrobe. 

"  Yes,"  he  said. 


Chapter  XVII 

THE    CRISIS 

IT  was  raining  with  the  perpendicular  soaking  down 
pour  succeeding  a  violent  thunder  shower  in  sultry  Au 
gust  as  Watson  climbed  the  long  flight  of  slippery 
steps  leading  up  the  terrace;  and  as  after  a  tap  on  the 
door  he  stood  waiting  the  water  flowed  from  his  coat 
in  veritable  streams.  The  duration  of  the  night 
schedule  for  light  in  the  residence  section  was  long 
past,  and  all  surrounding  the  darkness  was  as  the 
depths  of  a  cave. 

There  was  no  immediate  answer,  and  after  a  mo 
ment  the  caller  tapped  again  more  insistently.  That 
this  was  the  right  number  he  had  no  certainty.  He 
had  found  the  correct  block  and  chosen  the  one  house 
with  a  night  lamp  burning;  but  until  as  a  last  resort 
he  avoided  the  alarum  of  the  bell.  He  had  the 
physician  instinct,  this  man. 

At  last  there  was  a  response.  Of  a  sudden  a  light 
appeared  in  the  vestibule  and,  in  silhouette,  a  face,  a 
woman's  face  unmistakably,  approached  the  glass. 

"  Who's  there?"  queried  a  suppressed  voice. 

"  The  doctor.     Don't  waste  time,  please." 

A  key  turned  gratingly  in  the  lock  and  as  the  new 
comer  entered  the  woman,  Mrs.  Waldow,  stood 
facing  him  squarely;  but  nevertheless  uncertainly. 

"  Your  name,  please,  is " 

242 


The  Crisis  243 

"  Watson,"  the  man  was  removing  his  wet  clothes 
swiftly,  "  Bruce  Watson." 

"  And  Doctor  Clayton,  you  say,  is  out  of  town?  " 

"  Yes,  away  indefinitely.  I'm  taking  care  of  his 
practice."  The  speaker  took  up  his  case  and  moved 
into  the  hallway  meaningly.  "  I'm  ready." 

"  I  see."  The  woman  took  a  step  forward  and 
halted,  her  work-stiffened  hands  fumbling  at  the 
throat  of  her  loose  sacque  nervously.  Usually  so 
matter-of-fact,  her  face  was  all  indecision.  "I  see; 

but  I  promised  her Oh,  I  don't  know  what  to 

do!" 

Watson  turned  about  sharply. 

"  Promised  her  what  ?  I  repeat,  we're  losing  valu 
able  time." 

"  That  I'd  call  no  one  but  Clayton.  She  made 
me  swear  to  it.  She  had  a  list  of  all  the  doctors  in 
town,  and — and " 

"  But  you  can't  get  Clayton;  isn't  that  plain? 
You're  not  at  fault.  She's  got  to  have  someone." 
In  the  man's  brief  practice  he  had  observed  enough 
human  vagaries  to  render  the  present  nothing  un 
usual.  "  Brace  up.  The  world  isn't  coming  to  an 
end.  Incidents  like  the  present  have  occurred  some 
few  billions  of  times  before.  Come,  please." 

"  Yes,  but " 

"  I  understand,"  decisively,  "  and  so  will  she.  I'll 
take  all  the  responsibility."  He  seized  her  by  the 
arm,  not  unkindly,  but  nevertheless  conclusively. 
"  Come,  or  I'll  be  compelled  to  find  my  way  alone." 


244  The  Dissolving  Circle 

At  last,  still  reluctantly,  the  landlady  yielded,  and, 
Watson  following,  led  the  way  up  the  stair.  At  the 
landing  she  again  paused;  but  one  look  from  the  man 
behind  sent  her  on  afresh  and  with  a  hand  that  shook 
obviously  she  opened  the  door  at  the  end  of  the  cor 
ridor  and  stepped  inside. 

"  The — doctor,  miss,"  she  halted. 

The  room  was  in  almost  complete  shadow,  so 
complete  that  when  Watson  entered  he  could  barely 
discern  the  few  articles  of  furniture  and  the  suggested 
whiteness  of  a  bed  in  the  corner.  Swiftly,  noiselessly 
as  was  his  wont  he  came  across  and  adjusted  the  stop 
cock  of  the  Welsbach  globe  carefully.  From  shadow 
the  place  passed  into  half  light,  and  beneath  the  re 
flector  itself  his  own  face  stood  clear  as  day.  As  it 
did  so  of  a  sudden,  startlingly  unexpected  as  a  thun 
der  clap  from  a  cloudless  sky,  incoherent,  choking, 
there  sounded  a  cry,  and  another;  then  again  returned 
silence  absolute  save  for  the  steady  patter  of  rain 
without. 

Swift  as  instinct  Watson  turned,  strode  halfway  to 
the  bed;  then  with  like  suddenness  incredible  he  too 
halted,  gazing  down  at  the  white  face  with  the  wide- 
open  eyes  staring  forth  from  the  pillow  fixedly;  mo 
tionless  as  a  model  in  clay.  A  second  he  stood  so, 
and  another;  then  a  hand,  a  trembling  hand,  plucked 
at  his  sleeve. 

"  Leave  her,  Doctor,"  the  landlady  was  sobbing 
hysterically.  "  In  God's  name  leave  her.  I " 

The  man  roused.     With  one  motion  he  had  the 


The  Crisis  245 

woman  by  the  shoulders  and  by  pure  force  was  lead 
ing,  carrying  her  from  the  room.  In  the  corridor 
he  halted  and  faced  her  about  squarely. 

"  Heat  some  water  quick  and  call  a  nurse;"  he 
thrust  a  list  of  names  into  her  hand,  "  any  one  of 
these. "  The  wide  blue  eyes  held  her  own  compell- 
ingly,  with  a  dominance  she  could  no  more  have  re 
sisted  than  she  could  have  stopped  the  action  of  her 
own  heart.  "  But  leave  the  water  in  the  hall;  don't 
come  into  the  room  again.  You  understand;  don't 
come  in,  no  matter  what  you  hear."  For  another 
fraction  of  a  second  he  paused  in  meaning  unmis 
takable  ;  then  the  door  closed  behind  him. 

The  dull  grey  light  of  early  morning  lit  up  the  place 
when  he  again  emerged  and,  the  black  medicine-case 
under  his  arm,  came  down  the  stair.  The  nurse, 
middle-aged,  bespectacled,  well  nourished,  was  await 
ing  him.  She  was  a  stranger  and  he  inspected  her 
impartially,  impassively,  as  though  she  were  a  new 
instrument  submitted  to  his  consideration. 

'You  are  completely  at  liberty?"  he  asked  at 
last. 

"  Yes." 

"  For  a  week  at  least;  perhaps  longer?  " 

"  Yes,"  again. 

"  I  take  it  for  granted  you  are  perfectly  familiar 
with  this  particular  work?" 

"  I've  been  doing  it  steadily  for  ten  years,  Doc 


tor." 


246  The  Dissolving  Circle 

A  moment  longer  Watson  continued  the  dispas 
sionate,  enigmatic  gaze. 

"  Very  well,  then,  consider  yourself  absolutely  in 
charge."  He  gave  a  few  minor  directions  swiftly, 
methodically.  "  Call  me  if  there  is  need;  otherwise 
not.  I  can  depend  upon  this  unconditionally,  and 
that  you'll  not  leave  the  house  during  the  time  I 
mentioned?  " 

"  Yes,  Doctor." 

Still  the  blue  eyes  held  her  relentlessly. 

"  Nor  'phone  to  anyone  except  me  in  the  mean 
time?" 

The  woman  understood.  Hysterical  Mrs.  Wal- 
dow  had  not  been  silent. 

"  I  repeat,  Doctor,  you  can  depend  upon  me  ab 
solutely." 

"  Thank  you.  I  accept  the  assurance.  You  are 
in  charge  now." 

Mrs.  Waldow,  red  eyes,  restlessly  impatient,  was 
standing  just  behind;  and  in  silence,  she  following 
docilely,  Watson  led  the  way  into  the  damply  stuffy 
sitting-room. 

"  She's  sleeping  now,"  he  anticipated,  "  and  per 
fectly  safe.  It's  a  boy.  May  I  raise  a  window, 
please?" 

He  drew  two  chairs  into  the  current  of  fresh  air 
and  waited  until  the  landlady,  still  strangely  sub 
missive,  was  seated  before  he  himself  followed. 

"  Is  there  anything  else  you'd  like  to  know?"  he 
asked  kindly. 


The  Crisis  247 

The  woman  shook  her  head. 

"  No,  I  guess  not — now." 

Watson  waited,  still  considerate,  until  she  looked 
up;  then  of  a  sudden  the  same  dominant  personality 
of  a  few  hours  before  took  possession  of  her  com 
pletely,  held  her  fast. 

"  Very  well,"  the  man  leaned  forward  just  per 
ceptibly,  u  let's  come  to  an  understanding  then. 
First  of  all  I  wish  to  know,  please,  what  you  know 
about  Miss  Belmont;  when  she  came  here,  why,  if 
alone — everything." 

The  landlady  writhed.  She  was  between  the  upper 
and  the  nether  millstones  and  impotent  absolutely. 
She  tried  to  avoid  those  wide-set,  relentless  eyes,  but 
she  could  not;  though  she  struggled,  hardly  wished 
to.  Against  her  will,  against  specific  direction — di 
rection  to  which  she  had  given  her  oath — she  was  con 
sciously  surrendering  to  their  dominance.  One  de 
fence  and  one  only  she  essayed. 

"  You  mustn't — ask  it  of  me,  Doctor,  I — prom 
ised " 

"  I  understand  perfectly,  but  you  did  it  blindly." 
Definitely  this  time  the  man's  long  body  leaned  for 
ward,  compellingly.  "  Take  it  for  granted  I  have 
the  right  to  ask.  You  don't  doubt  me?  " 

"  No."  It  was  surrender  absolute.  "  No,  I 
don't  doubt  you.  I — can't." 

Watson  waited,  looking  out  on  the  dismal,  muddy 
street 'with  its  fresh  streaks  of  lighter  clay  washed 
from  the  overhanging  bank;  waited  for — anything. 


248  The  Dissolving  Circle 

And  the  story  came;  at  first  haltingly,  stumblingly; 
then  swifter  and  more  swiftly  until  the  words  fairly 
crowded  each  other,  until  the  listener  could  not  have 
checked  the  flow  if  he  had  wished.  Not  an  incident 
was  missed,  not  a  detail  from  the  initial  ring  of  su 
percilious  Norman  Tracy  until  the  present  moment. 
It  was  a  flood,  that  narrative,  an  outpouring  impos 
sible  to  the  mercenary,  callous  Mrs.  Waldow  of  a 
year  before.  No  person  lives  for  self  alone,  nor  had 
Eula  Felkner.  At  the  close,  heated,  breathless,  pant 
ing,  the  narrator  leaned  back  temporarily  exhausted; 
but  ready  at  the  slightest  provocation  to  elaborate 
afresh,  to  attempt  anew  a  malediction  she  had  not 
language  to  adequately  express. 

And  during  it  all  Bruce  Watson  had  not  stirred, 
had  not  interrupted.  Through  half-closed  eyes  he 
had  watched  delivery  wagon  after  wagon  flounder 
spattering  past  through  the  mud;  watched  them  al 
most  as  though  he  were  conscious  of  their  pas 
sage. 

A  minute  went  by.  The  woman's  breathing  be 
came  normal. 

"  It,"  the  man's  voice  was  very  quiet,  very  even, 
"was  in  October  they  came,  you  say?  " 

"  Yes,  the  thirtieth.  I  remember  the  date  exactly. 
I " 

"  They  must  have  gone  out  very  little." 

"  Not  at  all,"  hotly.  "  The  girl  hasn't  been  out 
side  the  yard  once  since  she  came  to  town.  Not 
once;  only  think  of  it!  "  The  speaker's  face  con- 


The  Crisis  249 

gested  prophetically.  "  How  I  grew  to  hate  that 
man,  hate " 

"  Pardon  me,"  Watson  had  faced  about  impas 
sively,  "  but  don't  do  that,  please.  It's  useless  abso 
lutely."  Again  he  paused  until  his  companion  met 
his  eyes.  "  I  have  other  calls  to  make,  Doctor  Clay 
ton's  calls,  and  can't  stay  longer  now;  but  before  going 
I  have  a  favour  to  ask."  His  look  became  analyti 
cal,  almost  doubtful.  "  Does  anyone  else  in  the 
house,  the  maids,  the  roomers,  know  what  just  hap 
pened?" 

Mrs.  Waldow  returned  the  gaze  blankly,  uncom- 
prehensively. 

"  No,  the  house  is  very  well  built,  and  since  Mr. 
Tracy  left  the  next  room  has  been  vacant.  No  one 
heard  last  night,  and  the  roomers  aren't  up  yet  this 
morning.  The  girls  all  sleep  downstairs  back  of  the 
kitchen.  They  won't  know  until  it  comes  time 

"  Don't  let  that  time  come."  Watson  cut  her  off 
meaningly.  "Take  care  of  the  work  yourself;  the 
nurse  will  help  you.  Don't  let  anyone  else  come  near 
— near  enough  to  learn  anything.  That's  the  favour  I 
wish  to  ask  you ;  do  this  until  I  come  again.  Do  you 
understand?  " 

a  You  mean,"  the  excitement  of  comprehension 
began  to  glow  in  the  landlady's  face,  "  I'm  to  pre 
tend  there — is  no  child?  " 

"  Exactly." 

The  fascination  of  the  idea  augmented.     For  a 


250  The  Dissolving  Circle 

second  it  seemed  to  the  woman  a  solution  of  some 
thing  she  had  thought  not  to  be  solved;  then  of  a  sud 
den  came  second  thought  and  her  face  fell. 

"  But  they  already  anticipated "  she  refuted 

ambiguously.  "  Before  long  they'd  all " 

"  Never  mind  before  long,"  Watson  didn't  stop  to 
explain,  "  leave  that  to  me.  All  I  ask  is  that  nobody 
knows  until  I  come  again."  There  was  a  warning 
sound  from  the  rear  of  the  house,  obviously  the 
maids  were  up,  and  he  spoke  hurriedly.  u  Unless 
something  happens  I  shan't  return  for  a  week."  He 
anticipated  the  inevitable  surprise.  "  Don't  ask  me 
why.  Take  my  word  for  it  I  have  a  very  good  rea 
son,  and  that  everything  will  come  out  all  right.  Do 
just  what  I  ask.  Let  everything  go  on  as  usual;  just 
as  though  nothing  had  happened.  Can  I  depend 
upon  you?  " 

Again  the  landlady  was  fumbling  absently  at  her 
throat;  but  her  lips  were  firm. 

"  Yes,"  she  said. 

"  There's  just  one  other  thing."  Watson  arose  to 
go  and  stood  looking  down  on  his  companion  immov 
ably.  "  Mr.  Tracy  will  probably  call  or  send  some 
one  to  enquire.  Most  of  all  he  mustn't  know,  mustn't 
be  allowed  inside  the  house."  The  speaker  paused 
and  second  by  second  the  woman  felt  the  old  dom 
inance  gripping  her  tighter  and  tighter.  "  Don't 
arouse  his  suspicion  if  you  can  avoid  it.  Lie  to  him 
first,  tell  him — anything;  but  remember  he  must  be 
kept  ignorant  yet  at  any  cost.  If  he  becomes  insist- 


The  Crisis  251 

ent" — of  a  sudden  the  man  turned  away,  turned 
until  his  face  was  hidden — "  if  he  becomes  insistent,1' 
he  repeated,  "  let  me  know  at  once."  The  tongue 
thickened  irresistibly,  but  the  words  were  quiet  as 
ever.  "  There's  a  limit  to  tolerance — even  in  South 
Dakota." 


Chapter  XVIII 

DISILLUSIONMENT 

Miss  BERKELEY  sat  in  her  own  cosy  private  room — 
some  way  everything  about  this  woman  had  a  cheerful 
habit  of  turning  to  comfort — ostensibly  reading,  but 
in  reality  doing  nothing,  when  the  maid  entered.  She 
who  came  was  a  brand-new  maid, — the  old  having 
of  a  sudden  flown  like  a  bird  of  passage  by  night, 
leaving  behind  a  note  of  airy  satire  upon  the  tameness 
of  small  cities  in  general  and  of  Sioux  Falls  in  partic 
ular, — likewise  she  was  of  Swedish  extraction,  and  her 
approach  was  marked  with  diffidence.  But  recently 
elevated,  the  awe  of  personal  attendance  was  still 
heavy  upon  her. 

"  Please,  miss,"  she  announced,  "  there's  a  gentle 
man  downstairs  who  wishes  to  see  you." 

Her  mistress  did  not  look  up ;  but  a  close  observer 
could  have  noticed  a  tightening  of  the  fingers  on  the 
cover  of  the  book.  Miss  Flora  Berkeley  was  not 
burdened  with  callers. 

"  Didn't  he  give  you  his  card?  "  she  asked  at  last 
evenly. 

"  No."  Why  the  article  designated  should  have 
been  tendered  her  was  beyond  the  girl's  comprehen 
sion;  but  nevertheless  she  was  on  safe  ground.  "  He 
only  said  to  tell  you  he  wished  to  see  you." 

A  year  previously  there  would  probably  have  been 
252 


Disillusionment  253 

an  outburst,  later  regretted,  but  now  the  other  only 
faced  about. 

"A  gentleman,  Erma?"  She  observed  the  girl 
kindly.  "  What  sort  of  one,  please  ?  " 

Again  the  plump  maid  was  in  doubt.  A  single 
idea  suggested  itself. 

"  A  stylish  gentleman,  miss,"  she  described,  "  with 
a  cane  and  a  silk  hat." 

Unconsciously  the  woman  relaxed;  a  look  almost 
of  disappointment  flashing  for  an  instant  over  her 
face.  Then  she  too  had  an  idea. 

"  Has  he — red  hair,  Erma?  " 

"  Yes,"  quickly,  "  and  his  face "  The  speaker 

halted  with  a  jerk,  her  own  very  red. 

But  Miss  Berkeley  did  not  notice.  She  had  leaned 
back  and,  her  hands  behind  her  head,  sat  looking  at 
the  cover  of  the  novel  reversed  in  her  lap,  medi 
tatively,  peculiarly.  For  more  than  a  minute,  while 
uncomfortable  Erma  stood  shifting  from  leg  to  leg, 
she  sat  so;  then  of  a  sudden  she  looked  at  the  girl 
steadily. 

"  I've  an  errand  for  you,  Erma,"  she  digressed 
evenly.  "  I  nearly  forgot  it.  You  know  the  big 
policeman  on  Ninth  Street  beat?  " 

The  girl's  wide  open  eyes  spoke  her  mystification. 

"  The  one  with  the  jolly,  round  face,  miss?  " 

"  Yes.  It's  only  a  few  blocks  down  there,  and  you 
can  find  him  easily.  Tell  him,  please,  I  wish  to  see 
him,"  she  consulted  a  tiny  French  clock  on  the  desk 
before  her  enigmatically,  "  in  twenty  minutes  now — * 


254  The  Dissolving  Circle 

at  three  exactly."  The  black  eyes  returned  to  the 
wondering,  open-eyed  listener.  "  At  three  exactly; 
and  emphasise  that  it's  very  imporant.  Will  you  re 
member?  " 

The  blonde  head  nodded  affirmation.     The  mouth 
closed. 
•     "  Yes,  miss." 

"  And  when  he  comes  send  him  up  at  once." 

"  Yes,  ,miss." 

"  You'll  not  forget?  "  The  questioning  eyes  were 
very  direct,  very  insistent. 

"No,  miss." 

For  a  moment  longer  the  mistress  paused;  then 
again  she  looked  away  languidly. 

"  That's  all,  Erma.  Show  in  the  gentleman  be 
fore  you  go,  please." 

The  maid  was  already  at  the  door  awaiting  the 
first  opportunity  of  escape. 

"  Yes,  miss,"  she  said. 

"  I  trust,"  Tracy,  hat  in  hand,  had  paused  at  the 
idoor,  but  the  woman  had  not  turned,  had  not  even 
altered  her  position,  "  I  do  not  intrude,  Mrs.  Thurs- 
ton?" 

"  Miss  Berkeley,  you  doubtless  meant  to  say." 
"  Yes,  pardon  me;  a  mere  slip  of  the  tongue."  The 
voice  was  elaborately  sarcastic.  "  In  these  modern 
days  it's  difficult  to  keep  the  names  of  one's  woman 
friends  up  to  date.  I  repeat,  Miss  Berkeley,  I  hope 
I  don't  intrude?" 


Disillusionment  255 

"  Emphatically,  you  do,"  the  voice  had  grown  lan 
guid  as  the  sultry  afternoon  itself,  "  but  we  won't 
discuss  that."  The  dark  head  nodded  toward  a  seat. 
"  It's  cooler  over  there  by  the  window,  Mr. 
Tracy." 

For  a  second  the  man's  lashless  eyes  tightened  mal 
evolently;  then  he  accepted  the  place  designated 
smilingly. 

"  Frankness  always  was  your  most  attractive  qual 
ity,  Flora;  that  is,  next  to  another,"  he  observed 
meaningly.  "  I  remember  admiring  it  in — in  a 
previous  existence,  when  you  were  Miss  Berkeley 
before." 

"  Thank  you,"  drawlingly,  tantalisingly.  "  It's 
always  pleasant  to  be  appreciated." 

"  Yes,"  Tracy  took  a  fresh  grip  on  the  smile, 
"  and  that  brings  us  down  to  the  present.  Do  you 
know  I've  called  a  half  dozen  times  this  summer — 
and  found  you  out  in  every  instance?  " 

One  of  the  clasped  hands  shifted  just  a  trifle,  and  at 
the  motion  the  short  sleeve,  released,  slipped  down,  re 
vealing  a  white  arm  to  the  elbow. 

"  How  should  I  know,  seeing  I  was  out  and  you  left 
no  card?  " 

Again  Tracy  observed  her  doubtfully.  For  a  mo 
ment  the  egotism  of  the  man  almost Just  in 

time  he  remembered  the  French  maid  and  the 
slammed  door. 

"  Flora,"  of  a  sudden  the  hat  in  his  lap  went  to 
the  floor  and  he  leaned  forward  intensely,  "  let's  drop 


256  The  Dissolving  Circle 

this  masquerade  and  talk  like  the  old  friends  we  are." 
With  the  old  histrionic  trick  his  red-pitted  face  soft 
ened,  his  voice  grew  personal,  intimate.  "  You  know 
I've  always  admired  you,  from  the  first  time  we  met; 
but  I  was  married  then  and  you — were  married  soon 
too.  I  " — he  paused,  hoping  she  would  glance  up, 
but  she  did  not — "  I  know  that  probably  youVe 
heard  a  lot  of  things  that  weren't  nice  about  me;  peo 
ple  will  prattle  about  those  in  our  class.  I've  heard 
gossip  concerning  you;  but  I  didn't  believe  a  single 
word,  and  I  don't  think  you  ought  to  about  me.  I'm 
not  really  bad.  Much  as  I  wished  to,  I  never  even 
tried  to  see  you  alone  until  you  came  here.  You'll 
have  to  admit  that."  Again  he  leaned  farther  for 
ward.  Again  the  histrionic  throbbed  in  his  voice. 
"  But  now  we're  both  free,  free  as  air;  and  wiser. 
We're  both  immeasurably  better  fitted  to  enjoy  life, 
enjoy  each  other,  than  we  were  then.  It  seems  almost 
Providential,  our  being  here  together  so.  I'm  a  bit 
of  a  fatalist:  I  believe  sometimes  it  really  is.  Why 
can't  we  begin  anew  where  we  left  off;  begin  now? 
I  " — a  real  moisture  came  to  his  eyes,  his  voice  really 
trembled — "  I — love  you,  Flora  Berkeley." 

On  the  desk  the  tiny  clock  ticked  ahead  noisily,  and 
the  eyes  of  the  woman  observed  it  enigmatically. 
Once  the  second  hand  made  the  circle  of  the  diminu 
tive  dial  and,  unhesitating,  renewed  its  endless  jour 
ney.  For  the  first  time  the  black  eyes  shifted  to  her 
visitor's  face.  In  their  depths  lurked  a  smile;  a  baf 
fling,  maddening  smile. 


Disillusionment  257 

"  You  did  that  very  well,  Mr.  Tracy,"  commented 
an  appreciative  voice,  "  exceedingly  well." 

"Miss  Berkeley!     Flora!" 

"  I  repeat,  you  have  my  congratulations.  If  you 
ever  lose  your  inheritance  you  still  have  a  fortune  in 
your  possession." 

Again  for  a  space  the  voice  of  the  clock  was  alone 
in  the  room ;  then  of  a  sudden  the  man  stiffened.  Be 
neath  the  red  lids  the  close-set  eyes  peered  forth  men 
acingly. 

"  I'm  to  understand,  then,  that  you  don't  believe 
me,  that  you  decline  absolutely  to  do  what  I  ask?  " 

The  bare  white  arm  dropped  outward  in  token  of 
impotency. 

"  You  exhaust  my  vocabulary  completely.  Your 
intuition  is  as  perfect  as  your  art." 

The  man's  red  face  went  almost  pale.  His  lips 
parted,  but  for  some  reason  closed  again  in  silence. 
Instinctively  he  fumbled  in  his  pocket  and  produced  a 
cigarette  and  a  match. 

"  Pardon  me,"  the  level  black  eyes,  unsmiling  now, 
were  holding  his  relentlessly,  "  but  I  don't  recall 
granting  you  permission  to  smoke."  It  was  as 
though  she  were  addressing  a  refractory  youth  still 
in  his  'teens.  u  You  will  wait  until  you  get  outside, 
please." 

The  last  trace  of  the  man's  self-control  vanished. 
Like  a  flash  he  was  on  his  feet,  the  cigarette  ground  to 
powder  under  his  heel. 

"Flora  Berkeley,"  he  blazed,  a  curse  you!     Do 


258  The  Dissolving  Circle 

you  fancy  for  a  second  I'll  take  this  sort  of  thing  from 
any  woman,  even  you  ?  " 

For  a  moment  the  other  did  not  answer,  did  not  stir. 
Her  eyes  were  set  straight  past  the  man,  toward  the 
dainty  little  bird's-eye-maple  writing  desk  at  the  op 
posite  side  of  the  room.  What  she  wished  she  saw, 

but — but Of  a  sudden  up  the  gravel  walk  from 

the  street  there  sounded  a  step,  a  man's  step;  heavy, 
grinding.  As  suddenly  her  black  eyes  shifted,  looked 
those  red-rimmed,  threatening  eyes  above  her  fair; 
mockingly  fair. 

"  I  fancy  you  will,  Mr.  Tracy,"  she  said. 

"Fancy  I  will!"  For  an  instant  the  man  hesi 
tated  in  pure  wonder.  He  had  not  interpreted  that 
pause  thus.  Then  the  full,  sensual  lips  of  him 
opened  in  a  smile,  a  smile  which  was  grossest  insult. 
"Fancy  I  will?"  he  repeated.  "You  don't  know 
me  very  well,  Flora  Berkeley;  not  nearly  so  well  as 
you  will  a  half  hour  from  now."  The  smile  vanished. 
The  pitted  cheeks  blazed  in  a  passion  more  intense 
than  anger,  more  horrible.  "  Do  you  consider  it — 
wise  to  defy  me  now,  Flora?  I  give  you  one  more 
chance;  and  I'd  advise  you  to  think  well  before  you 
answer."  He  halted  in  the  deliberate  instinctive  in 
terim  every  animal  of  prey  offers  the  victim  in  its 
power  before  the  final  tragedy;  his  lips  a  bit  apart,  his 
nostrils  wide.  In  the  silence  of  the  pause  the  front 
door  opened  and  closed,  the  heavy  tread,  softened 
now  until  it  was  all  but  noiseless,  crossed  the  vestibule, 
crept  up  the  stairs,  was  almost  upon  them ;  but  uncon- 


Disillusionment  259 

scious,  Tracy  took  no  notice,  did  not  hear.  Never  in 
his  life  had  he  been  more  sure  of  himself,  more  cer 
tain  of  a  definite  denouement.  "  I'll  make  you  pay 
dear  for  this  insult,  Flora  Berkeley,  pay " 

"  Pardon  me,"  the  interrupting  voice  was  as  stol 
idly  impersonal  as  the  round,  heated  face;  "  but  you 
wished  to  see  me,  miss?  " 

"  Yes,"  the  woman's  dark  eyes  had  of  a  sudden 
grown  almost  languid  again,  "  how's  the — wife  to 
day?" 

The  big  officer  was  deceived — almost.  If  he  hadn't 
himself  heard 

"  Better,  miss,  thank  you — and  thanks  to  you." 
With  an  effort  he  repressed  a  grin.  "And  the 
boy " 

"  I'll  want  him  again  to-morrow.  The  lawn  needs 
cutting  and  the  garden  attention.  He's  " — the  words 
were  weighed  carefully  as  though  loth  to  give  undue 
praise — "  the  best  boy  I  ever  employed." 

"  Thank  you  kindly,  miss." 

The  black  eyes  contracted  in  deep  thought. 

%<  There's  something  else  I  wished  to  speak  with  you 

about;  but Pardon  me,  Mr.  Traey,  you're  not 

going  so  soon  ?  "  Solicitation  spoke  in  the  even  voice, 

surprise  as  well.  "  I'll  be  through  in  a  moment,  I 
only » 

Alone,  Miss  Flora  Berkeley,  one  time  of  most 
exclusive  drawing-rooms,  aristocrat  born  and  bred, 
and  a  common  policeman,  heated  with  the  effort  of 
a  hurried  call  from  his  beat,  looked  at  each  other. 


260  The  Dissolving  Circle 

As  they  did  so  the  grin  on  the  man's  jolly  round  face, 
long  repressed,  broadened  openly,  understandingly. 
The  bang  of  the  front  door  below  broke  the  spell. 
The  woman  arose  and  from  a  drawer  in  the  dainty 
writing  desk  extracted  an  equally  dainty  silver  purse, 
from  the  purse  a  bit  of  green  paper. 

"  I  trust,"  she  proffered  the  latter  equivocally,  "  the 
— wife  will  continue  to  improve,  officer." 

The  grin  became  a  chuckle,  the  chuckle  a  frank, 
appreciative  roar. 

"  Thank  you.     And  the  boy  ?  " 

Miss  Berkeley  did  not  smile,  nor  did  she  appear 
offended. 

"  On  second  thought  I — hardly  believe  I'll  need  the 
boy  after  all,"  she  said, 

It  was  not  a  pleasant  face  to  look  upon  which  con 
fronted  Mrs.  Waldow  as  she  opened  the  front  door; 
and  instinctively  at  the  revelation  the  substantial  bulk 
of  her  body  adjusted  itself  to  the  narrow  space  of  the 
aperture. 

"  I  called,"  the  visitor  did  not  condescend  the  cour 
tesy  of  a  greeting,  "  to  find  out  why  I  can't  get  any 
satisfaction  here  by  'phone.  Isn't  your  instrument 
working?  " 

1  Yes,  sir — but  " — from  within  the  door  knob  was 
surreptitiously  grasped  by  a  tighter  grip — "  but  it's 
out  of  repair  some  way.  I  ordered  it  examined  sev 
eral  days  ago,  and  still "  The  sentence  ended  in 

an  all  explanatory  sigh. 


Disillusionment  261 

The  man  observed  the  speaker  sourly. 

"  I  seem  to  be  able  to  get  you  clearly  enough — and 
then;  I  can't  make  heads  or  tails  of  what  you  say; 
then." 

"  Yes,  I  know,  sir.  It's  acting  that  way  right  along. 
It's  an  awful  nuisance,  sir." 

The  man  scowled,  but  let  the  subject  rest. 

"  Very  well.  Now,  however,  that  I'm  here  I  trust 
you  can  at  least  talk  intelligently." 

"  I  trust  so,  sir,"  respectfully. 

"  All  right,"  the  scowl  was  repeated,  "  how  is  Miss 
Tracy,  then?" 

"  Very  well,  sir,"  promptly.  "  As  well  as  could  be 
expected.  Not  yet,  sir,"  she  added  hurriedly  at  the 
other's  meaning  look,  "  nor  for  a  few  days  possi 
bly." 

For  a  second  longer  the  visitor  frowned  at  her 
doubtfully;  then  he  seemed  satisfied. 

'  You  have  done  everything  required,  I  suppose? — 
If  you  need  more  money " 

The  landlady  swallowed  hard. 

"  Everything  possible  has  been  done,  Mr.  Tracy. 
Have  no  uneasiness,  sir." 

Though  she  was  endeavouring  hard  to  appear  nat 
ural,  Mrs.  Waldow  was  not  a  good  actor,  and  some 
thing  in  her  manner  aroused  the  man's  suspi 
cion.  His  sour  face  tightened  in  unpremeditated 
intent. 

"  Doubtless  you're  telling  me  the  truth,"  he  satir 
ised,  "  but  to  make  sure  I'll  go  up  a  moment  myself.'* 


The  Dissolving  Circle 

He  advanced  a  step  significantly.  "  Merely  to  make 
sure." 

"  Pardon  me,"  the  woman  stiffened  obviously  for 
the  battle,  "  but  I  can't  let  you  do  so  just  now,  Mr. 
Tracy.  It's — it's  the  doctor's  orders." 

"  Damn  the  doctor's  orders !  "  The  menace,  ever 
so  near,  flashed  over  the  red  face  anew.  "  I  have 
some  rights  here  myself.  Move  aside." 

But  there  was  no  movement  of  obedience.  The 
door  even  closed  slightly. 

"  Pardon  me  again,  sir,"  the  voice  this  time  was  al 
most  servilely  propitiating;  "  but  I  repeat  I  can't  com 
ply — now.  I  have  my  directions." 

"  Can't?"  Tracy  paused  an  instant  in  sheer  as 
tonishment;  then  the  same  look  which  so  shortly 
before  had  confronted  Miss  Berkeley,  the  look  of 
irresponsibility  absolute,  flamed  in  the  red  eyes  afresh. 
''  Won't — you  mean.  Have  you  forgotten  who  I 
am;  taken  leave  of  your  senses  completely?  Out  of 
my  way,  I  say,  or Out  of  my  way." 

Then  for  the  second  time  within  the  hour  occurred 
to  Norman  Tracy  the  unexpected.  Of  a  sudden  from 
a  mere  rift  the  door  swung  wide  open,  remained  so. 
From  servile  inferiority  the  attitude  of  the  woman 
altered  unbelievably;  became  equal,  all  but  majestic, 
in  its  condemnation.  Her  faded  steel-blue  eyes  met 
his  fearlessly,  with  a  blaze  in  their  depths  uncompro 
mising  as  his  own. 

"  Taken  leave  of  my  senses;  you  ask  me  that?" 
she  challenged.  "  Forgotten  who  you  are,  Mr. 


Disillusionment  263 

Tracy:  you  of  all  men  speak  that  insult  to  me?  "  As 
completely  as  though  it  had  never  occurred  she  had 
forgotten  her  promise  to  Watson,  forgotten  the  care 
fully  planned  scheme  of  concealment.  Superior  to 
every  other  consideration,  blotting  them,  for  the 
moment,  out  absolutely,  the  maternal  instinct,  long: 
dormant  in  her  starved  life,  at  last  flamed  forth;  out 
raged,  irresistible.  "  No,  I've  not  forgotten  you,, 
Norman  Tracy;  forgotten  you  nor  what  you've  done." 
She  advanced  a  step  out  of  the  doorway  and  instinct 
ively  the  man  fell  back.  "  But  one  thing  I  had  for 
gotten  for  a  moment,  and  lied  to  you ;  yes,  lied  to  you, 
Norman  Tracy.  For  it  has  happened;  there  is  a 
child  upstairs;  a  boy,  your  son.  But  you  won't  go- 
up,  even  though  you  know  it,  even  though  I  shan't 
try  to  stop  you.  You  don't  dare  to,  degenerate  as, 
you  are;  don't  dare  to  look  him  in  the  face.  That's 
what  for  a  moment  I  forgot,  Mr.  Tracy;  that  you're 
a  coward."  She  stepped  back  free  of  his  path;  de 
liberately,  significantly.  "  The  way  is  clear,  there's 
nothing  whatever  to  prevent.  I  dare  you  to  go, 
Norman  Tracy;  dare  you !  " 

• 

The  cut-glass  decanter  upon  the  buffet  in  the  man's 
room  at  the  hotel  was  ruddy  brown  when  he  entered* 
Within  five  minutes  thereafter  it  was  colourless  as 
when  it  left  the  factory  and  the  man  himself  was 
poring  over  the  pages  of  a  railroad  guide-book.  It 
took  him  but  a  moment  to  find  what  he  wished  and, 
rising,  he  pressed  the  button  of  the  call  bell  viciously. 


264  The  Dissolving  Circle 

His  finger  was  on  the  button  for  the  second  time  when 
a  tap  sounded  on  his  door  and  at  his  surly  "  come  "  a 
youthful  shock  head  was  thrust  inside. 

"  You — rang,  sir?  " 

"  YeSj  something  less  than  an  hour  ago."  The 
speaker  paused  with  a  malevolent  scowl.  "  Tell  the 
clerk  I  wish  to  take  the  evening  '  Central '  east  and  to 
have  my  bill,  my  full  bill,  ready.'* 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  And  to  call  me  in  time  for  my  baggage.  You'll 
not  forget?" 

"  No,  sir." 

Alone,  Tracy  went  about  the  routine  of  packing. 
For  fifteen  minutes  he  worked  swiftly,  methodically, 
in  grim-mouthed  silence.  For  five  minutes  longer  he 
still  worked;  but  interruptedly  and  to  an  accompani 
ment  of  incoherent,  cursing  soliloquy.  Then  again 
fell  silence  and  aimlessly,  unsteadily,  he  wandered 
from  place  to  place  about  the  room.  The  big  Turk 
ish  chair  was  an  inspiration,  a  godsend,  an  all-ade 
quate  solution ;  and  in  an  unconscious  abandon  he  sank 
into  it,  drowsily,  gratefully.  "  B-bless  you,  oF 
frenV  he  sobbed  brokenly,  "  b-bless  y'  1  " 

Promptly  at  the  appointed  time  came  a  tap  on  the 
door,  another,  and,  no  response  forthcoming,  a  cu 
rious  shock  head,  ready  to  retreat  at  an  instant's 
alarmr  thrust  into  the  room.  A  moment  it  paused 
so  while  its  possessor  took  stock  of  the  surroundings : 
the  litter,  the  half-packed  trunk,  the — the An 
other  pause,  a  long,  open-mouthed  pause,  followed; 


Disillusionment  265 

then  a  grin,  boyish,  exultant,  indescribable,  flashed 
over  the  freckled,  observing  face,  and  the  fearless 
youth  came  wholly  within.  For  the  third  time  he 
halted,  gloating  in  full  leisure  at  this,  his  enemy's 
downfall;  then,  the  opportunity  was  far  too  precious 
to  lose,  he  deliberately,  mockingly  thumbed  his  nose — • 
and  once  again. 


Chapter  XIX 

THE    HEART    OF    WOMAN 

"  You  may  go  now  for  a  bit."  In  the  corridor  out 
side  Eula  Felkner's  room  Watson  had  been  listening 
in  silence  to  the  nurse's  methodical  report  of  the  past 
week.  "  I'll  be  here  for  an  hour  or  so  myself." 

"  Thank  you,  Doctor."  The  woman  paused  and 
her  voice  lowered.  "You — heard,  I  suppose?" 

"  Yes.  Mrs.  Waldow  herself  'phoned  me  immedi 
ately  afterwards."  The  man  omitted  any  refer 
ence  to  the  incoherent  penitence  of  that  confession. 
"  This  releases  you,  of  course." 

"  Very  well,  Doctor.  It'll  make  no  difference  in 
the  least,  however." 

Watson  nodded. 

"  I  thank  you,"  he  said  simply. 

As  a  moment  later  the  man  opened  the  door  of  the 
east  room  he  was  of  a  sudden  aware,  as  we  are  in 
stinctively  conscious  of  another's  presence  at  night, 
that  his  every  movement  was  being  observed;  stealth 
ily,  breathlessly;  but  his  manner  gave  no  hint  of  the 
knowledge.  He  closed  the  door  softly,  holding  back 
the  latch  so  it  would  not  click,  and  placed  his  hat  and 
ubiquitous  case  methodically  upon  the  table.  An 
evening  paper  left  by  the  nurse  lay  spread  before  him, 

266 


The  Heart  of  Woman  267 

and  he  paused  a  moment  to  glance  at  the  headlines; 
then  with  grave  courtesy  he  advanced  toward  the  cor 
ner  and  the  bed. 

"  Good-evening,  Eula,"  he  said. 

Direct  at  him  from  out  a  soft  white  face  stared 
forth  two  wide-open  brown  eyes;  indecisive  now,  a 
bit  fearful. 

"  Good-evening,  Doctor  Watson,"  hesitatingly. 

The  man  placed  a  chair  close  and  sat  down. 

"Doctor  Watson?  "  he  suggested  with  the  faintest 
accent. 

"  Bruce "  she  substituted  at  last. 

;<  Thank  you."  The  speaker  neither  avoided  nor 
courted  her  look.  "  That  helps  us  materially  on  our 
journey.  Needless  to  say,  I  didn't  call  professionally, 
Eula.  The  nurse  reports  you're  doing  finely  and  in  a 
bit  you'll  be  up  and  around  again  as  well  as  ever. 
It's  about  other  things  I  called;  things  you  understand 
without  mentioning." 

l(  Yes."  The  nervous  hngers  were  still  working 
with  the  bedclothes,  but  meanwhile  the  abnormally 
wide  eyes  were  probing  the  mystery  of  her  com 
panion's  face,  probing  it  desperately,  futilely.  If  she 
but  knew  how  much  he  himself  already  knew,  knew 
positively!  "  Yes,"  she  repeated,  "  I  think  I  under 
stand.  But  I'd  rather  not  talk  of  it,  please,"  very 
craftily  she  shifted  the  lead;  "rather  not  resurrect 
our — intimacy.  It's  dead;  I  explained  a  year  ago. 
I'm  very,  very  sorry,  for  your  sake,  but  it's  so.  To 
recall  it  now  would  be  useless." 


268  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  Useless?"  The  voice  was  gentle  as  a  spring 
time  shower.  "  Useless,  you  say?  " 

"  Yes,  useless,"  with  desperate  swiftness.  "  I  told 
you  when  you  came  East  to  see  me  that  Norman  and 
I — that — that " 

"  Eula,"  insistently. 

No  answer  save  an  uncontrollable  trembling  of  the 
soft  oval  chin. 

"Eula  Felkner!" 

The  white  face  tightened  in  a  last  supreme  effort. 
She  would  learn  all — at  once. 

"  Eula  Tracy,  you  mean." 

"  Eula  Felkner,"  the  man  ignored  the  dissimula 
tion,  "  don't  you  trust  me?  " 

Again  there  was  no  response;  but  the  brown  eyes 
were  dim  now  and  the  chin  was  trembling  more  than 
before. 

"I  repeat,  don't  you  trust  me,  Eula?  Answer> 
please." 

A  moment  longer  the  silence  lasted;  then  came  the 
cloudburst;  tempestuous,  uncontrollable,  inevitable. 
Minutes  it  lasted,  long,  dragging  minutes;  and 
through  it  all,  silent,  motionless,  the  man  sat  looking 
away,  his  long,  angular  face  with  its  dogged  jaw 
line  a  wonderful,  impenetrable  mask.  Only  the 
spread  of  the  wide  nostrils  gave  clue  to  the  furnace 
raging  beneath  that  emotionless  exterior,  gave  hint 
of  the  relentless  white-hot  menace  that  for  days  had 
been  augmenting,  augmenting  until  now  no  human 
power  could  prevent  its  ultimate  outburst.  Not  un- 


The  Heart  of  Woman  269 

til  the  coming  of  the  last  pattering  sob  did  he  turn 
back,  did  he  interrupt  by  even  a  syllable.  Then, 
gently  insistent,  he  repeated  for  the  third  time  his 
question. 

And  he  had  his  reward.  The  glorious  brown  eyes 
met  him  now  openly,  without  a  trace  of  artifice 
therein. 

"I  trust  you,  Bruce  Watson?"  intensely.  "Yes, 
as  I — trust  no  one  else  on  earth,  more  than  I — trust 
God  himself!'*  She  paused,  breathless  at  the  sacri 
lege  ;  but  the  mood  would  not  down.  "  Oh,  how  could 
I  ever  have  changed  as  I  have  changed,  learned  to 
care  for  another,  for " 

"  Eula " 

"  Forgive  me,  Bruce,  but  I  can't  help  it.  I  hate 
myself  so,  hate  myself;  but  still  " — she  was  merciless 
in  her  confession,  blindly  merciless — "  if  I  were  to 
live  the  past  year  over  again,  I  know — I  know  I'd 
do  the  same  again."  From  beneath  the  cover  crept 
forth  two  soft  brown  arms,  clasped  beneath  her  head. 
'  Yes,  knowing  everything  I'd  do  the  same  again. 
It's  awful  of  me,  awful;  and  when  I  think  of  you, 
how " 

"  Eula,"  sternly,  peremptorily,  "  stop !    I  refuse  to 

listen.     I "     The  man  caught  himself  with  an 

effort.  "  Eula,"  the  voice  was  of  sudden  impassively 
even  again,  but  there  was  no  mistaking  its  finality, 
"  in  whatever  we  say  to-day,  if  in  future  we  chance 
to  meet  again,  I  ask — your  pardon — demand  that  you 
leave  the  past  wholly  out  of  the  conversation.  As  you 


270  The  Dissolving  Circle 

say,  it's  dead.  Let  it  rest."  He  leaned  forward, 
his  elbow  on  his  knee.  "  It's  the  future,  your  future, 
I  wish  to  speak  of  now.  If  you'd  rather  not  I'll  go. 
Do  you  wish  me  to  go,  Eula  ?  " 

Into  the  brown  eyes  crept  a  new  look,  a  helpless, 
'fearful  look. 

"  No,"  swiftly,  "  a  thousand  times  no.  I  want  you 
to  stay  and  understand — everything." 

"  You  don't  care,  then,  won't  be  offended  if  I  ask 
a  few  questions?  " 

The  brown  head  shook  emphatic  negation. 

"  Ask  anything  you  wish  and  I'll  answer  you  truly." 

Over  the  wide  blue  eyes  the  lashes  closed  just  a 
shade. 

"  To  begin  with,  then,  you  didn't  mean  I  should 
know  now,  should  ever  know,  what  you'd  done.  You 
— lied  to  me  for  that  reason?  " 

"  Yes,  Bruce." 

"And  your  mother;  you  told  her  the  same 
story?" 

"  Yes,"  steadily.  "  She  believes  I'm  married — and 
very,  very  happy." 

Yet  another  shade  the  long  lashes  closed  in  a  way 
the  man  had  when  concentrated. 

"  You  gave  another  name  to  Mrs.  Waldow,  em 
phasised  it,  she  said.  Why  was  that,  please?  " 

Instinctively  the  brown  hands  went  to  their  owner's 
face,  covered  it  from  view. 

"  You  really  want  me  to  explain  that,  Bruce  ?  " 

"  As  you  wish,  Eula.     I'm  merely  your — friend." 


The  Heart  of  Woman  271 

For  the  first  time  there  was  a  pause;  but  it  was 
brief.  Then  the  hands  returned  beneath  the  brown 
head. 

"  Yes,  I  wish  you  to  know  that  too,  Bruce.  I," 
quietly,  unbelievably  quietly,  "  meant  to  kill  myself. 
It's  horrible,  but  I  saw  no  other  way.  I  meant  to 
suicide,  Bruce." 

"And  leave  the  child?"  The  man  was  looking 
her  through  and  through. 

"  Yes.  I'd  thought  it  all  out.  Norman  would  take 
care  of  baby.  He  couldn't  have  refused  that.  No 
human  being  could." 

Watson's  elbow  shifted  from  knee  to  knee  equivo 
cally. 

"But  supposing  he  had,  Eula?  Supposing  he'd 
left  town,  left  no  one  knew  for  where?  " 

In  a  flash  the  brown  head  shifted,  looked  the  ques 
tioner  intensely,  almost  fiercely. 

"Has  he  gone,  Bruce?"  she  voiced  pleadingly. 
"  Tell  me,  has  Norman  gone?  " 

An  instant  the  man  hesitated.  With  all  his  knowl 
edge  of  the  girl's  past,  in  the  very  face  of  her  con 
fession  he  had  hardly  expected  the  revelation  of  that 
query. 

"No,"  he  said  simply.    "  Mr.  Tracy  is  still  here." 

The  girl  dropped  back  with  a  sigh  of  relief,  al 
most  of  justification. 

"  I  knew  he  wouldn't  go,"  she  voiced  trustingly, 
"  go  without  seeing  baby.  He's  not  nearly  so  bad 
as  you  think  him,  Bruce.  Not  nearly  so  bad."  In 


272  The  Dissolving  Circle 

the  glamour  of  the  reaction  hope  had  of  a  sudden 
risen  from  its  own  ashes.  "  He's  only — different." 

Her  companion  straightened,  the  long  arms  folded 
across  his  chest. 

"You  still  believe  in  him,  Eula?"  he  asked. 

"  Believe  in  him?  "  They  were  eye  to  eye.  "  Yes, 
I  believe  in  him,  Bruce." 

"  And  care  for  him?" 

The  girl  almost  smiled.  In  her  present  mood  the 
question  seemed  fairly  absurd. 

"  Care  for  him!  "  She  fairly  joyed  in  the  repeti 
tion.  "  Haven't  I  showed  that  I  care  for  him,  haven't 
I  given  him — everything?  " 

Of  a  sudden  she  remembered,  but  the  light  did  not 
leave  her  face.  "  I  know  you  can't  understand,  know 
no  man  can,  but  I'll  never  cease  caring  for  him. 
Whatever  he's  done  in  the  past  makes  no  difference. 
If  he  were  to  go  away  to-day  and  never  return,  never 
even  write  me  or  let  me  know  he'd  gone,  I'd  still  care 
for  him.  I  know  what  everyone  who  knows  thinks, 
what  you  even  think;  but  it  makes  no  difference,  I  love 
him,  Bruce  Watson;  better  than  I  love  self,  better 
than  I  love  baby,  better  even  than  I  love  God.  I 
don't  know  why,  it's  beyond  reason,  beyond  explana 
tion;  but  I  love  him,  love  him  1  "  She  was  silent. 

Again  the  listener  turned  away,  and  again  into  the 
line  of  the  set  jaw  came  the  former  prophecy  of  men 
ace.  Of  a  sudden  a  faint  understanding  of  the  reality 
came  to  the  girl  and  at  the  possibility  suggested  her 
eyes  grew  wide  once  more,  fearful. 


The  Heart  of  Woman  273 

"  Bruce "  she  pleaded. 

At  first  the  other  did  not  hear. 

"  Bruce  Watson "  tensely.  The  suggestion 

had  assumed  the  proportions  of  certainty  now. 

This  time  the  man  turned  gravely. 

"  You,"  the  girl  was  searching  the  long  face  line 
by  line  for  an  answer,  "  don't  mean  to — to  hurt  him, 
Bruce?" 

Her  companion  returned  the  look  immovably. 

"  Can't  you  trust  me  to — do  what  is  right,  Eula?  " 

"  Yes,"  swiftly,  "  but  I  want  everything  put  in 
words.  All  women  do,"  she  justified.  "  Answer  me, 
please." 

"  Very  well."  With  the  old  unconscious  movement 
the  man's  long  body  slid  down  in  the  chair  until  the 
great  bushy  head  rested  on  the  high  back.  "  But 
first,  I've  another  question  to  ask.  In  a  few  weeks 
you'll  be  about  again.  What,  please,  do  you  intend 
doing  then?"  He  ignored  absolutely  the  former 
suggestion  of  melodrama.  No  need  with  that  tiny 
mound  by  the  girl's  side  to  tell  him  its  futility.  "  An 
swer  me  that  first,  Eula." 

Beneath  ten  restless  fingers  the  white  coverlet 
worked  afresh. 

"  I — don't  know,  Bruce.  There's  been  so  much  to 
think  about.  I — when  Norman  comes  I'll  tell  you. 
Until  then  I — I  don't  know." 

'  You,"  the  wide  blue  eyes  bore  no  trace  of  irony, 
"  expect  him  to  come,  Eula?  " 

"  Yes,"  tensely,  "  I  know  he'll  come." 


274  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  Pardon  me,"  the  voice  still  carried  no  suggestion 
of  doubt,  merely  solicitude,  "  but  have  you  any  reason 
for  believing  so,  any  assurance?  " 

"  No,"  haltingly,  "  no  assurance;  I  merely — feel  it 
myself."  It  was  trust  sublime,  superior  wholly  to 
reason.  "  He  simply  couldn't  stay  away  now.  I 
know  it.  I  know  it!  " 

Involuntarily  the  listener  passed  a  hand  across  his 
face;  but  that  was  all. 

"  And  when  he  does,  Eula.  Can  you  forgive  him, 
forgive — everything?  " 

u  Forgive  him !  "  Real  wonder  was  in  the  swift 
return.  "  There's  nothing  to  forgive,  I  tell  you.  I — 
I  love  him." 

Once  more  the  questioner  paused  and  for  the 
second  time  the  hand  repeated  its  unconscious 
motion. 

"  Pardon  me  again,  Eula :  I  hate  to  hurt  you,  but 
I  must  know.  When  Mr.  Tracy  returns,"  no  hint 
that  the  return  was  not  as  she  had  said,  certain,  u  can 

you I  won't  say  it ;  you  understand  what  I  mean. 

Will  he  consent?" 

For  the  first  time  a  trace  of  colour  came  into  the 
girl's  face.  The  long  lashes  drooped. 

"  I  don't  think  so,  Bruce.  He's  different.".  She 
looked  up  almost  challengingly.  "  Leastways,  I 
shouldn't  ask  it.  I  accept  him  as  he  is.  I'll  live  with 
him  here,  live  with  him  anywhere  without.  I  repeat, 
I  shan't  ask  it." 

"  But — this  is  a  mere  supposition,  Eula.    We  must 


The  Heart  of  Woman  275 

look  at  the  possibilities  from  all  sides,  you  know — if 
sometime  he  should  leave  you  again,  if " 

"  He  won't,  I  tell  you,"  fiercely.  "  He  might  pos 
sibly  have  done  so  before;  but  now "  The  girl 

paused  for  adequate  words  and  in  vain.  "  He  simply 
won't.  There's  no  use  supposing,"  she  completed. 

Watson  straightened.  His  great  shoulders 
squared. 

"  Yes,"  he  corroborated,  "  there's  no  use  of  sup 
posing;  and  I've  only  one  more  question  to  ask,  then 
I'll  go."  From  beneath  his  long  lashes  he  looked 
down  at  his  companion  with  an  intensity  which,  not 
in  the  least  understanding,  she  nevertheless  remem 
bered  to  her  dying  day.  "  When  Mr.  Tracy  comes, 
after  you  are  married " — he  repeated  the  words 
evenly,  deliberately — "  after  you  are  married  you 
won't  mind  if  sometimes  he  doesn't  seem  to  care  for 
you  so  much  as  he  might — men  are  that  way  at  times, 
you  know — won't  be  sorry  so  long  as  he  stays  with 
you,  so  long  as  he  is  kind?  " 

The  listener  scarcely  believed  her  ears. 

"  Married — you  say?  " 

"  Yes,  married,  Eula." 

For  seconds  the  girl  did  not  stir;  then  of  a  sudden 
she  drew  a  long  breath  as  of  one  aroused  from  sleep. 

"  Sorry,  Bruce?"  The  great  brown  eyes  had 
opened  gloriously  wide.  "  No,  never;  not  if  he  wasn't 
even  kind.  So  long  as  he's  with  me  that's  all  I  ask, 
all  I  wish  in  the  world.  I'd  be  happy,  happy — I  can't 
tell  you  how  happy.  It's  just  the  chance  to  be  near 


276  The  Dissolving  Circle 

him  I  want.  Just  that."  Again  she  halted;  but  the 
glimpse  of  Paradise  suggested  was  too  good  to  be 
credible.  To  her  came  this  time  the  question. 

"  Do  you  think  that  he'll  do  it,  Bruce,"  she  queried 
tensely,  insistently;  "  think  of  his  own  free  will  he'll 
suggest  it?  " 

"  Yes,  Eula,"  very  gravely,  "  I  think  he'll  do  it." 

"  Without  my  asking  him?  You  know  I  won't  do 
that,  Bruce." 

"  Yes,"  again.  "  Without  you  asking  it  of  him, 
Eula." 

"Oh,  oh!"  At  arms'  length  the  girl's  hands 
clasped  before  her  on  the  bed.  Her  eyes  closed;  but 
though  she  spoke  no  more  aloud  her  lips  kept  mov 
ing,  and  a  moment  later  from  beneath  the  shut  lids 
two  great  tears  gathered  and  stood  irresolute  on  her 
cheeks. 

Of  a  sudden  Watson  rose  and  on  tiptoe  moved 
over  to  the  window  and  drew  back  the  old-fashioned 
lace  curtains.  A  breath  of  the  already  cooling  even 
ing  air  met  him  face  to  face,  and  with  a  repressedly 
restless  motion  one  big-jointed  hand  went  combing 
through  his  shock  of  hair  unnecessarily.  After  a 
pause,  a  long  pause,  his  name  was  spoken;  at  first 
softly,  then  louder  and  insistently.  He  returned 
slowly,  but  he  did  not  again  sit  down. 

"  Bruce,"  the  tears  had  gone  now,  but  the  spot 
where  they  had  been  was  still  moist,  "  we  probably 
won't  see  each  other  much  in  future.  I  know  you, 
and  that  you'll  never  come  near  me — now."  The 


The  Heart  of  Woman  277 

preface  begun  so  bravely  halted  while  the  speaker 
swallowed  hard.  "  So  while  I  have  the  chance  I  wish 
to — to  thank  you  for  all  you've  done,  to " 

"  Don't  please,"  preventingly.  "  I'd  rather  you 
wouldn't.  I  understand  without  your  saying  it." 

"Very  well,"  uncertainly;  "  but  another  thing. 
We  " — she  looked  away — uwe  were  so  different  once 
and  for  so  long."  The  eyes  returned,  pleadingly, 
recklessly.  "  It  was  all  my  fault.  I  wish  to  know 
you  forgive  me,  forgive  Norman " 

"  Eula !  "  Like  tiny  ropes  the  great  arteries  stood 
out  on  the  man's  bare  throat,  at  his  temples.  "  Can't 
you  remember?  "  Again  he  caught  himself  and  again 
the  arms  folded  across  the  broad  chest.  "  If  there's 
anything  to  forgive  I've  forgiven  you  long  ago. 
You're  but  natural." 

"  And  Norman,"  insistently,  desperately.  "  Tell 
me  you  forgive  him  too?  " 

The  man  eyed  her  impassively. 

"  You  mustn't  talk  any  more  now,"  he  said.  "  I 
request  it." 

"  I  won't,"  simply,  "  after  your  answer.  Tell  me, 
Bruce,  before  you  go  that  you  forgive  him,  that  " — 
the  old  fear  redoubled — "that  you  won't  hurt  him; 
won't  touch  him  even  though  he  doesn't  of  himself 
do — what  we  think  he  ought,  if  " — chokingly — "  if 
he  shouldn't  return  at  all.  Promise  me  on  your  word 
of  honour  you  won't  hurt  him,  Bruce." 

Still  the  man  did  not  stir.  Still  his  face  was  a 
mask. 


278  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  I  repeat,"  evenly,  "  I  think  he  will  return." 

The  girl  half  lifted  on  her  elbow.  Her  white  face 
tightened. 

"  But  promise  me,"  she  pleaded.  "  As  you  loved 
me  once,  promise." 

"  Eula,"  the  voice  was  neither  raised  nor  lowered, 
but  from  its  unemotional  evenness  the  girl  knew  as 
she  knew  life  itself  there  was  no  appeal,  and  she 
dropped  back  with  closed  eyes,  waiting,  "  you  must 
be  mad,  or  you  wouldn't  ask  of  me  what  you  do. 
I  can't  promise,  girl.  God  himself  would  not 
promise;  and  I'm  not  God.  As  you  say,  we'll  prob 
ably  never  meet  again  alone.  Good-bye." 

There  was  a  pause;  then  without  opening  her  eyes 
the  girl  knew  he  was  leaving,  heard  his  soft  tread 
on  the  thinly  carpeted  floor.  Her  brain  was  seething, 
but  out  of  the  chaos  one  idea — an  inspiration,  she  fan 
cied  it — was  taking  form.  In  desperate  oblivious 
selfishness  she  grasped  thereat;  trusting  all  to  this 
single  cast.  In  the  silence  she  heard  him  lift  his  case 
from  the  table.  It  was  now  or  never  and  her  eyes 
opened. 

"  Bruce!  "she  called. 

The  man  paused,  but  he  did  not  glance  back. 

"  Bruce  Watson !  " 

"  Yes." 

"Didn't  you — forget  something?"  She  scarcely 
recognised  her  own  voice;  but  with  one  last  supreme 
effort  she  kept  on.  "  Won't  you  kiss  me  good-bye  be 
fore  you  go,  kiss  me  and — baby?  " 


The  Heart  of  Woman  279 

She  thought  she  was  prepared  for  anything;  and 
she  was — save  for  the  reality.  For  this  time  the  man 
turned,  turned  fully,  until  she  could  see  his  face  dis 
tinctly,  sec With  a  little  inarticulate  cry  her 

hand  went  out  involuntarily,  drew  the  coverlet  over 
her  face,  blotting  out  what  she  saw.  For  seconds 
which  gathered  into  a  minute  she  lay  there  trembling, 
scarcely  breathing.  In  them  she  heard  her  own  door 
close  softly,  later  the  front  door  below,  and  she  knew 
he  had  gone.  Still  another  moment  she  lay  so,  ir 
resolute,  panting;  then  of  a  sudden  in  an  agony  of 
remorse  she  reached  out  and  drew  the  tiny  swaddled 
bit  of  humanity  at  her  side  to  her  breast  in  the  tight 
ness  of  abandon. 

"  Oh,  baby  mine,"  she  sobbed  hysterically. 
"Baby!  Baby!" 


Chapter  XX 

THE    RECKONING 

THE  small  "  Milwaukee  "  railway  station  and  the 
much  longer  brick  platform  before  were  crowded 
and  with  as  motley  an  assemblage  as  could  well  grace 
an  equal  space  of  earth's  surface.  The  meeting-point 
for  passengers  actual  and  prospective  for  the  north, 
the  south,  the  east,  and  the  west,  the  congregating 
spot  of  the  State's  main  artery  as  well,  it  threw  to 
gether  indiscriminate  types  as  varied  as  the  bizarre 
population  of  the  country  itself.  Side  by  side  were 
debonaire,  self-sufficient  commercial  travellers,  and 
obsequious  farm  labourers,  coatless  and  unshaven,  en 
route  to  the  ripening  wheat-fields  of  the  North.  On 
the  dilapidated  benches  fresh-looking  matrons,  repre 
sentatives  of  the  local  semi-leisure  class  on  the  way  to 
near-by  summer  resorts,  sat  elbow  to  elbow  with  ill- 
complexioned,  perspiring  immigrants  bound  for  the 
interior  and  with  the  distinctive  plebeian  odour  of 
their  race  surrounding  them  as  a  cloud.  An  Indian 
from  the  Crow  Creek  reservation  brushed  shoulders 
with  an  Assyrian  peddler,  dumbly  patient  under  his 
pack  and  the  possibility  of  gain  in  the  land  of  promise 
a  few  stations  beyond.  Ubiquitous  land-men,  hawk- 
eyed,  redolent  of  tobacco,  towed  about  sweaty  cap 
tive  farmers  from  States  to  the  east  and  south,  ex- 

280 


The  Reckoning  281 

patiating  eloquently  meanwhile  anent  the  possibilities 
of  the  virgin  country  to  the  west  whither  they  were 
ticketed.  Broad-hatted  ranchers  with  fierce  mous 
taches  and  pockets  bulging  with  recently  purchased 
beer-bottles  scraped  acquaintance  impartially  on 
either  hand  and  with  the  loud-voiced  comradery  typi 
cal  of  their  class. 

All  these  and  others  to  fill  pages  were  there  that 
August  day,  shifting  restlessly  back  and  forth  in  the 
aimless  movement  of  a  crowd  annihilating  time;  and 
in  their  midst,  ruthlessly  elbowed  with  the  rest,  ex 
citing  more  curiosity  than  any,  was  still  another  type: 
a  stockily  built,  exquisitely  groomed  man  whose  silk 
hat  and  sour  red  face  had  for  the  five  minutes  he  had 
been  waiting  successfully  repelled  any  suggestion  of 
familiarity  from  even  the  convivial  ranchers.  It  was 
past  one  o'clock,  the  heat  was  stifling,  as  usual  the 
converging  trains  were  already  late  and,  after  satisfy 
ing  himself  of  this  latter  fact,  the  man  returned  his 
watch  to  his  white  waistcoat  and  scowled  about  him 
malevolently,  indiscriminately,  as  though  in  some  in 
explicable  way  the  other  components  of  that  swelter 
ing  throng  were  responsible  for  the  delay.  As  he  did 
so  a  hack  clattered  up  the  uneven  street  and  halted, 
with  an  abruptness  which  all  but  threw  the  driver 
from  his  seat,  at  the  far  end  of  the  platform;  and 
having  nothing  else  to  do  the  traveller  watched  with 
languid  interest  to  see  what  new  specimen,  as  he  iron 
ically  designated  his  waiting  fellows,  would  emerge. 

A  moment  later,  and  for  no  particular  reason  which 


282  The  Dissolving  Circle 

he  would  have  admitted,  he  started  walking;  but  in 
the  direction  opposite  from  that  in  which  he  had  been 
looking.  Again  without  admitting  that  the  incident 
bore  any  particular  significance,  he  was  conscious  that 
the  man  who  had  emerged — a  tall,  angular  man  whom 
he  had  once  known — had  paused  for  a  second  on  the 
edge  of  the  crowd  inspecting  it  with  swift  scrutiny, 
and  that  his  eyes  had  halted  at  sight  of  the  single  silk 
hat  in  its  midst.  For  the  first  time  in  his  life  Norman 
Tracy  vaguely  regretted  his  partiality  for  that  par 
ticular  badge  of  respectability.  Usually  he  had  no 
aversion  to  conspicuity,  but  to-day  and  now,  for  some 
indefinite  reason,  it  inspired  only  resentment.  Idly, 
elaborately  idly,  he  sauntered  ahead,  and  at  the  end 
of  the  walk  stopped  to  lean  against  the  railing  which 
ran  the  full  length  at  his  side.  Of  a  sudden  he  re 
membered  that  it  was  very  hot  and,  removing  the  of 
fending  beaver,  he  wiped  his  brow  deliberately.  Even 
then  he  did  not  return  it  to  its  place,  but  leaned  there 
with  the  sun  beating  down  on  his  stiff,  red  hair,  con 
vincing  himself  that  it  was  cooler  so.  He  did  not 
look  back,  but  against  his  will  the  mere  sight  of  the 
man  who  had  alighted  had  recalled  the  memory  of  a 
conversation  he  had  carried  on  over  the  'phone  with 
Mrs.  Waldow  but  an  hour  before.  For  some  reason, 
at  which  he  could  but  speculate,  the  landlady's  tongue 
had  been  loosed  and  she  had  talked  freely,  more  than 
freely.  He  mopped  his  brow  again.  Certainly  it 
was  very  hot  and,  curses  on  these  frontier  roads,  the 
train  was  still  late ! 


The  Reckoning  283 

Apparently  by  mere  chance  another  man,  one  who 
likewise  had  strolled  idly  to  the  limit  of  the  platform, 
stopped  and  a  moment  later  took  a  place  by  his  pred 
ecessor's  side  against  the  uninviting  rail.  Tracy  did 
not  glance  around,  but  of  a  sudden  the  beaver  re 
turned  to  his  head  and  again  with  elaborate  aimless- 
ness  he  started  to  return  the  way  he  had  come.  As 
he  did  so  the  newcomer  likewise  moved,  stood  block 
ing  his  path. 

"  Your  pardon,  Mr.  Tracy,"  said  an  even  voice, 
"  but  I  wish  to  speak  with  you." 

The  hitherto  remotely  possible  was  inevitable  now, 
and  the  traveller  stiffened.  His  manner  became  a 
hundred  and  thirty  odd  degrees  lower  than  the  sur 
rounding  temperature. 

"  Your  apology  is  in  order,  sir."  The  lashless  eyes 
had  met  the  other's  menacingly.  u  But  unfortunately 
I  have  no  inclination  whatever  to  grant  your  request." 

Watson  did  not  stir. 

"  This  sort  of  thing  is  useless,  absolutely,  Tracy," 
he  refuted  unemotionally.  "  I  repeat,  I  must  speak 
with  you,  and  we  can't  well  talk  here.  I  fancy  the 
desire  to  avoid  a  scene  is  mutual,  so  you'd  better  come 
along  uptown  with  me  quietly.  In  this  at  least,  I'm 
your  friend.  Are  you  willing  to  come?" 

"  Willing  to  come !  "  Tracy's  lip  curled  in  the 
most  sarcastic  of  smiles.  "  I  didn't  know  you  drank 
like  this,  Watson.  As  your  friend,"  he  emphasised 
in  ironic  repartee,  "  I'd  advise  you  to  cut  it.  You're 
liable  to  run  up  against  someone  less  good-natured 


284  The  Dissolving  Circle 

than  myself  and  get  into  trouble.  For  the  sake  of 
your  practice,  man,  cut  it." 

Watson  said  nothing,  and  at  the  silence  the  other's 
smile  became  a  leer. 

"  You  may  be  a  bold  bad  man  on  the  frontier, 
Watson,"  he  resumed  patronisingly,  "  I  don't  doubt 
you  are;  but  in  civilisation  you're  merely  humorous." 
He  took  a  step  forward  languidly.  "  A  bromo  selt 
zer  is  excellent  for  one  in  your  condition.  You'd 
better  take  one  on  your  way  uptown.  For  the  pres 
ent,"  he  paused  insolently  and  ready  slang  sprang  to 
his  lips,  "take  to  the  woods.  Move  on;  you  block 
my  sunshine." 

Watson's  big  hands  went  to  his  pockets,  remained 
there  like  two  bulging  wens. 

"  Is  that  all?  "  he  suggested  dispassionately.  "  If 
not,  I'm  listening,  and  there's  plenty  of  time." 

Again  Tracy's  lip  curled,  but  after  a  moment  re 
sumed  the  normal.  Following  two  tiny  streams  of 
perspiration,  gathering  at  the  roots  of  his  hair,  began 
coursing  down  his  cheeks  and  he  wiped  them  away 
with  an  unsteady  hand.  Verily  it  was  very  hot. 

"  All  for  the  present,  I  believe,"  he  emphasised. 

"  Very  well,  then,  let's  go  back  where  we  left  off." 
The  blue  eyes  were  wandering  about  the  crowded 
platform  leisurely.  "  Do  you  wish  to  do  what  I  sug 
gest  quietly,  or  do  you  prefer  publicity?  I  " — his 
glance  returned  suddenly — "  shall  not  ask  you  again." 

Once  more  down  the  red  face  the  sweat  streams 
were  wandering  by  the  lines  of  least  resistance;  but 


The  Reckoning  285 

this  time  Tracy  did  not  notice.  Instinctively  he  felt 
in  his  pockets  for  a  cigar — and  unavailingly. 

"  Permit  me,"  proffered  the  other  politely. 

Tracy  looked  hard,  but  accepted. 

"  Thanks."  He  struck  a  match  nervously  and 
puffed  until  the  tip  was  glowing.  "  Frankly,  Wat 
son,"  the  last  trace  of  bravado  had  disappeared,  but 
as  he  spoke  his  red-lidded  eyes  scanned  the  railroad 
track  surreptitiously,  "what  do  you  mean?  What 
have  you  got  up  your  sleeve,  anyway?  " 

The  long  man  caught  the  look,  and  for  an  instant 
the  wrinkles  appeared  at  his  temples. 

"  If  it  would  be  of  interest,"  he  commented  ir 
relevantly,  u  your  train  is  still  twenty  miles  up  the 
line."  His  face  became  unemotionally  normal  again. 
"  I  mean  exactly  what  I  said.  You're  not  going  east 
to-day,  but  uptown  with  me  instead." 

"And  if  I  refuse?"  after  a  pause. 

"  I  have  a  rather  interesting  scrap  of  paper  in  my 
pocket,  and  that  sleepy  policeman  you  see  sitting  over 
there  on  the  trucks  isn't  half  as  lazy  as  he  looks." 

Tracy  did  not  glance  up.  He  had  noted  the  indi 
vidual  designated  previously.  Unconsciously  he  mois 
tened  his  lips. 

"  Supposing  I  do  go  with  you?  "  He  was  trying 
to  evolve  a  plan  of  campaign,  but  nothing  save  pro 
crastination  suggested  itself.  "  What  then?  " 

'*  That  will  depend  entirely  upon  yourself,"  curtly. 
"  I  don't  care  to  discuss  the  matter  here." 

u  Supposing  again " 


286  The  Dissolving  Circle 

The  wens  disappeared  miraculously  from  the 
other's  legs.  The  broad  eyes  tightened. 

"  Cut  it,"  insistently,  u  to  use  your  own  phrase. 
I'm  weary  of  this  farce.  You  know  well  enough  what 
this  means,  why  I'm  here.  I've  not  interfered  until 
the  last  possible  moment.  You've  had  every  chance 
to  redeem  yourself,  to  prove  that  you  possess  even 
the  rudiments  of  decency.  Come  now,  or  you'll  re 
gret  it.  Move  on  ahead." 

For  a  second  longer  Tracy  hesitated.  Despite  his 
effort  no  avenue  of  escape  had  suggested  itself;  but 
instead,  perversely,  only  an  augmenting,  reflex  anger 
that  in  his  blind  stupidity  he  had  permitted  himself 
to  arrive  in  his  present  position.  If  he  had  but  left 
when  he  should;  have  gone  a  week  ago  even.  Swift 
as  thought  itself,  inevitably  connected,  recurred  the 
reason,  the  remembrance  of  the  previous  afternoon, 
and  his  pitted  face  congested  malevolently.  Curses 

on  himself  for  an  ass,  and  on  her  for He  moved 

on  obediently. 

Leisurely,  so  leisurely  as  to  pass  uncommented,  they 
moved  back  the  way  they  had  come;  scowling-faced 
Tracy  ahead,  Watson  following  within  arms'  reach, 
the  sweaty,  restless  crowd  parting  before  them  and 
closing  indifferently  behind.  Opposite  the  baggage 
room  Watson  touched  the  other  on  the  shoulder. 

"  I  think,"  he  suggested,  "  it  would  be  well  if  you 
held  your  trunks." 

For  a  second  Tracy  hesitated,  then  again  he  moved 
forward. 


The  Reckoning  287 

"  Damn  the  trunks!  "  he  anathematised;  and  Wat 
son  made  no  comment. 

Again  at  the  line  of  waiting  hacks  the  leader 
halted. 

"Is  it  permissible  to  ride?"  he  queried  with  de 
liberate  sarcasm. 

"  Certainly."  Watson  himself  led  the  way  to  the 
nearest  and  waited  until  his  companion  entered. 
"  Dr.  Clayton's  residence,  driver." 

"  Clayton's  it  is,  sir." 

Up  the  long  stretch  of  Phillips  Avenue  they  clat 
tered  over  the  uneven  cobbles,  turned  west  at  the 
corner  of  Ninth  Street,  and  started  to  pass  the  big 
hotel,  when  of  a  sudden  Tracy  thrust  his  head  out  of 
the  open  window. 

"  Pull  over  to  the  Cataract  a  minute,  cabby,"  he 
directed.  He  looked  at  his  companion  peculiarly. 
"  Come  in  and  have  a  drink  on  me,  Watson.  I'm 
jdry  as  paper." 

Very  deliberately  another  head,  a  great  bushy  head, 
appeared  in  turn  without  the  aperture. 

"  Go  right  on,  driver,"  said  a  voice;  "we've  de 
cided  not  to  stop  after  all." 

For  an  instant  fire  danced  before  Norman  Tracy's 
eyes.  He  felt  as  though  he  would  suffocate,  and  a 
soft  freckled  hand  clutched  instinctively  at  his  collar. 

"  Damn  you,  Watson,"  he  cursed,  "  you " 

He  halted  abruptly.  They  were  opposite  the  opera 
house  corner  now,  and  of  a  sudden  in  a  flashing  pano 
rama  of  recollection  he  recalled  another  time  they  two 


288  The  Dissolving  Circle 

had  been  there,  recalled  what  had  followed,  every  in 
cident  of  that  mad  escapade  clear  to  the  bitter  de 
nouement.  Despite  his  will,  fight  against  the  feeling 
as  he  might,  the  master  clutch  of  the  man  opposite, 
established  beyond  question  that  former  night, 
gripped  him  afresh :  gripped  tighter  and  tighter.  A 
sensation  akin  to  terror  of  this  relentless,  impassive 
human  possessed  him.  He  felt  his  self-assurance,  his 
self-control  ooze  forth  as  the  sweat  oozed  from  his 
body  until  his  collar  was  a  rag.  He  leaned  back  in 
his  seat;  silent,  waiting. 

Before  a  comfortably-rambling  old-fashioned 
house,  set  well  back  from  the  street  in  the  centre  of 
a  big  lawn,  the  carriage  drew  up,  and  without  a  word 
Watson  alighted  and  led  the  way  up  the  broad  tarred 
walk.  Still  without  explanation  he  followed  a  side 
path  around  to  the  rear  and,  producing  a  key,  swung 
the  door  wide.  The  steps  behind  him  halted  sud 
denly;  but  he  did  not  turn.  Ten  seconds  passed  so; 
then  with  a  nod  he  indicated  the  open  doorway. 

"  I'm  waiting,"  he  suggested. 

"  Watson,"  Tracy  came  forward  at  last  until  he 
stood  opposite,  a  newborn  suspicion  stamped  large 
upon  his  pitted  face,  "  I've  come  so  far  without  ques 
tion,  but  before  I  go  with  you  alone  inside  I  want 
to  know  what  you've  got  in  mind.  What  the  devil 
do  you  mean  by  asking  me  in  there,  anyway?  " 

For  five  seconds  the  other  did  not  answer;  then 
deliberately,  maddeningly  deliberately,  he  inspected 
the  questioner  from  head  to  shoe  tip  and  back  again. 


The  Reckoning  289 

"  Are  you  afraid,  Mr.  Tracy,"  just  perceptibly  the 
nostrils  widened,  "  with  twenty  pounds  in  your  favour, 
and  as  you  once  announced,  a  college  athletic  training, 
afraid  to  go  with  me  into  a  private  residence  in  the 
heart  of  town  at  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon?  Is  it 
possible  you " 

He  closed  the  door  behind  them  gently  and,  with 
out  a  comment  from  the  man  watching,  turned  the 
lock  and  thrust  the  big  latch  key  into  his  pocket. 

The  shades  were  down  in  Clayton's  cosy  library, 
but  nevertheless  the  blaze  of  the  midday  sun  made 
the  place  comfortably  light.  Face  to  face  across  the 
flat-top  desk  the  two  men  sat  looking  at  each  other. 
From  totally  different  viewpoints  each  knew  they 
were  approaching  an  epoch  in  their  lives.  Likewise 
in  but  differing  measure  each  knew  the  deadly  hate 
lurking  in  the  other's  mind.  From  the  beginning 
down  to  the  throbbing  present  man  has  not  altered 
one  iota  in  the  fundamentals — and  they  were  but  men. 
Minutes  passed,  lingering,  mocking  minutes.  Tracy 
still  gripped  the  dead  stump  of  his  cigar  in  his  teeth 
and  unconsciously  he  chewed  at  it  nervously.  As  usual 
Watson  did  not  stir  by  so  much  as  a  single  muscle. 
Upstairs,  Clayton's  telephone  rang  noisily,  insistently; 
and  was  repeated.  Watson  did  not  answer,  but  never 
theless  he  aroused. 

"  Tracy,"  he  tilted  back  in  his  chair,  his  hands 
sought  his  pockets,  "  I  told  you  there  in  the  crowd 
that  I  didn't  wish  a  disturbance,  and  I  don't  wish 
one  here;  but  there  are  certain  things  about  you 


290  The  Dissolving  Circle 

which  I  must  know,  will  know.  Are  you  willing  to — 
testify?  " 

"  Must/'  the  other  likewise  roused.  The  cigar 
stump  went  to  a  convenient  ash  tray,  "  and — will, 
you  say?  " 

"  Yes,"  quietly. 

"  Pardon  me,"  with  an  effort  the  visitor's  lips 
opened  in  a  mirthless  smile,  "  but  before  I  answer  I 
have  a  question  to  ask  in  turn.  Who,  bye  the  bye, 
are  you,  anyway?  Are  you  God?  " 

"  Perhaps,"  unemotionally.  "  Leastways  as  far  as 
your  future  is  concerned  you  may  consider  me  so. 
Will  you  kindly  answer  my  question?  " 

Again  as  in  the  hack  a  freckled  hand  clutched  at 
the  binding  collar.  Though  he  had  no  thought  of 
the  comparison,  the  sensations  of  one  hopelessly 
caught  in  quicksand  were  Norman  Tracy's  that  mo 
ment.  Similarly  he  struggled  helplessly  against  the 
inevitable. 

"  I  won't  promise,"  he  refused  doggedly.  "  I  don't 
recognise  your  right  to  demand  it." 

"  Don't  recognise  my  right !  "  swiftly.  "  Don't 
you  know  who  I  am?  " 

"  No,  not  further No." 

Watson  leaned  forward.  Between  narrowed  lids 
he  looked  the  other  through  and  through. 

"  You  mean  to  tell  me,"  slowly,  "  that  what  you 
attempted  to  do  that  second  night  we  met  was  from 
pure,  innate  malice?  That  you  would  have  done  the 
same  to — anyone?  " 


The  Reckoning  291 

"  Yes — I "  Of  a  sudden  the  voice  paused, 

the  red  face  went  white,  white  to  the  lips.  "  Good 

God,  Watson,  is  it  possible  that "  He  stared  as 

at  a  ghost.  For  a  moment  his  guard  dropped  abso 
lutely.  "  I  never  dreamed  it  before.  She — Eula — 
refused  always  to  tell  me,  she "  He  was  silent. 

And  for  a  long  half  minute  Watson  too  was  silent; 
but  it  was  a  terrible  menacing  calm.  In  it  his  chair 
went  flat  to  the  floor.  His  big  jointed  hands  came 
to  light. 

"  I  don't  doubt  you,  Tracy,"  he  said,  "  though  I 
didn't  believe  it  possible  to  despise  you  more  than 
before.  Anyway,  the  fact  makes  no  difference.  It's 
not  of  ourselves  I  care  to  speak.  It's  of  you  and 
Eula.  In  so  many  words  what  do  you  intend  doing 
concerning  her?  Perhaps  you'll  recognise  my  right 
to  ask  now  ?  " 

"  I  " — a  bit  of  normal  colour  had  returned  to  the 
other's  face,  a  trace  of  the  normal  effrontery  to  his 
manner, — "  I  intend  to  treat  her  white,  Watson." 
He  brushed  at  a  speck  on  his  sleeve  with  unsteady 
carelessness.  "  I'm  willing  to  settle  any  reasonable 
amount  upon  her,  willing  to  support " 

"  Don't  temporise,"  swiftly.  "  I've  done  with 
dallying.  In  one  word,  yes  or  no,  are  you  going  to 
marry  her?  " 

"Marry  her?"  Amazement  real  or  feigned 
throbbed  in  the  query.  "Marry  her!" 

The  long  man  said  nothing. 

"  You're  amusing,   Watson.     You " 


292  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  Answer  yes  or  no." 

Tracy  drew  up  in  his  seat.    His  eyes  flamed. 

"  No,"  he  said. 

"  Yes,  you  mean." 

"  No.  Emphatically  no.  No  to  infinity.  She 
came  here  to  me  of  her  own  free  will.  I  never  prom 
ised  her " 

"  Stop !  Stop,  or — Tracy,"  the  long  man  had  risen, 
every  muscle  tightened  in  the  passivity  of  repression, 
his  great  chin  outtilted  until  it  was  all  but  a  disfigure 
ment,  "  the  issue  between  yourself  and  myself  I 
waive."  He  was  his  deliberate,  impassive  self  again, 
was  Bruce  Watson,  but  infinitely  more  terrible  than 
in  the  momentary  passion  of  a  second  before. 
"  There's  another  consideration  immeasurably  larger 
at  stake.  Eula  Felkner  loves  you,  trusts  you  yet. 
How  she  can  do  so  God  only  knows;  but  it's  true. 
She  believes  you're  coming  back  to  her,  and  as  sure 
as  I  stand  here,  living  or  dead  you're  going."  He 
moved  forward  a  step  until  his  body  touched  the  edge 
of  the  desk.  "  If  you're  wise  you'll  mark  that  last 
statement,  Norman  Tracy,  for  I  shan't  speak  it  again. 
I  know  there's  law  in  the  land  and  preachers  tell  us 
retribution  is  God's;  but  there  are  cases  superior  to 
both  tribunals,  and  yours  is  one.  In  this  case,  right 
or  wrong,  I  represent  both  God  and  law.  For  the 
last  time,  I  repeat,  I  don't  wish  to  lay  hand  upon  you, 
will  avoid  it  if  I  can;  but  there's  one  way  and  one 
only  you  can  prevent."  Deliberately  as  though  he 
were  about  to  read  an  essay  he  reached  in  his  pocket, 


The  Reckoning  293 

produced  a  folded  sheet,  spread  it  flat  upon  the  desk 
top.  "  I  mentioned  before  an  interesting  bit  of  paper. 
This  is  it.  It  isn't  exactly  what  you  fancied,  I  imag 
ine;  but  no  matter.  It's  a  marriage  license  and  your 
name  and  that  of  Eula  Felkner  are  upon  it."  Equally 
deliberately  he  inspected  his  watch.  "  It's  now  2.48. 
At  four  o'clock  exactly  there'll  be  a  minister  waiting 
in  Mrs.  Waldow's  parlour.  At  the  same  time  there'll 
be  a  hack  stop  here  for  you.  I  think  it  unnecessary 
to  elaborate  the  connection  between  these  two  inci 
dents;  but  both  are  inevitable  as  the  passage  of  time." 
Tense,  relentless  as  an  Indian,  the  long  body  leaned 
farther  forward,  the  great  hands  spread  flat  upon  the 
desk  top.  "  I'm  " — God !  The  terrible,  unemotional 
evenness  of  that  low-toned  voice ! — "  I'm  taking  con 
siderable  pains  to  be  explicit  because  I  don't  wish  you 
to  misunderstand.  I'm  not  warning  you,  however; 
I'm  merely  stating  what  is  going  to  happen.  I've  done 
lots  of  thinking  in  the  last  week,  Norman  Tracy; 
multiply  twenty-four  by  seven  and  you'll  know  how 
many  hours.  Whether  I'm  right  in  doing  what  I'm 
going  to  do  I'm  not  the  judge;  no  man  is  judge. 
Likewise  what  happens  to  me  to-morrow  if  you  again 
say  no  is  immaterial.  I  have  decided.  It  is  to  be." 
Just  for  a  second  he  paused,  but  in  it  his  face  altered 
unbelievably.  The  wide  eyes  narrowed  to  mere  slits. 
The  great  muscles  of  his  neck  rose  beneath  the  skin 
like  taut  ropes.  "  You're  heavier  than  I,  Norman 
Tracy,  and  college-trained;  but  here  alone,  if  you  re 
fuse,  you  can't  get  half  through  the  Lord's  prayer. 


294  The  Dissolving  Circle 

You  know  what  I  mean,  and  don't  doubt  me,  man. 
This  is  absolutely  the  last  word.  The  decision  is 
yours.  Will  you  or  will  you  not  marry  Eula 
Felkner?" 

The  voice  ceased  and  the  room  became  still,  still 
as  death;  so  still  that  the  very  watch  long  Watson 
had  consulted  took  voice.  With  an  effort  tta  hud 
dled,  bulky  figure  with  the  red  hair  and  freckled,  un 
steady  hands  lifted  in  its  seat.  He  realised  that  at 
last  the  vital  moment  had  come,  that  he  must  answer; 
but  like  one  in  a  nightmare  he  could  not.  To  doubt 
the  inevitability  of  the  other's  prophecy  never  oc 
curred  to  him,  to  offer  resistance  even  less.  From 
the  depths  of  his  coward  soul  he  was  cowed,  helpless. 
Hot  as  was  the  day,  he  felt  cold  and  dry;  dry  as  in  a 
fever.  He  touched  his  tongue  to  his  lips  and  they 
were  no  more  moist  than  before.  He  saw  the  other 
make  a  move,  a  meaning  move. 

"  I'm  waiting,"  said  a  voice. 

In  absolute,  blind  terror  the  man  threw  out  a  de 
taining  hand.  The  nightmare  grip  relented. 

"  Watson,"  he  pleaded,  "  in  God's  name,  don't. 
I  believe  you.  I'll  do  anything  you  say,  anything." 

"  You'll  marry  her?" 

"Yes,  I " 

"  And  never  leave  her  afterwards;  never  so  long  as 
both  of  you  live?" 

"  No,  as  God  hears  me,  no." 

"  Nor  hint  by  so  much  as  an  action  that  you  didn't 
return  willingly;  neither  to-day  nor  ever  afterward?  " 


The  Reckoning  295 

"  No,"  again  chokingly.     "  I  swear  it." 

Watson  moved  around  the  desk  noiselessly,  stopped 
within  arms'  reach. 

"  And  you'll  be  kind  to  her  and  to  the  child,  kind 
as  though  you  loved  them?  " 

Once  more  Tracy's  face  went  greyish  white.  With 
the  wonderful  distinctness  of  objects  revealed  in  a 
lightning  flash  he  realised  what  he  was  promising. 

"  Yes,"  haltingly,  "  I'll  promise  even  that" 

Watson's  great  arms  folded  across  his  chest. 

"  Get  down  on  your  knees,"  he  commanded. 

The  other  hesitated. 

"  Down,  man,  down !  " 

Tracy  knelt. 

"  Swear  to  it." 

No  words  came. 

"  Repeat  after  me.     I  swear — - — " 

«  I  swear " 

"  I'll  be  kind  to  Eula  Felkner " 

"  I'll  be  kind  to  Eula  Felkner " 

"  So  long  as  I  live." 

"  So  long  as  I  live." 

Watson  paused. 

"  So  help  me  God." 

"  So  help  me  God." 

A  moment  they  stood  so,  figures  for  a  master 
painter,  hopelessly  beyond  a  writer's  sphere;  then 
noiselessly  as  he  had  advanced  Watson  returned,  the 
narrow  desk  between. 

"  Stand  up,"  he  said. 


296  The  Dissolving  Circle 

Tracy  arose;  abject  as  a  slave,  abject  as  a  dog, 

"  One  last  word,"  Watson  waited  until  he  caught 
the  other's  eye,  held  it,  "  and  then  don't  ever  speak 
to  me  again,  not  a  single  syllable.  Perhaps  after 
another  hour  we'll  never  see  each  other  again.  Per 
haps  we  will.  Leastways  it  makes  no  difference.  I 
shall  know  of  you  and  of  your  doings;  know  abso 
lutely  whether  or  not  you  keep  your  promise.  If  you 
do,  well  and  good.  It'll  be  as  though  I  were  dead. 
If  not,  as  surely  as  the  sun  in  shining  outside,  I'll  hunt 
you  out.  The  world  isn't  big  enough  for  you  to 

avoid  me ;  and  then Do  you  doubt  me,  Norman 

Tracy?" 

Again  for  a  second  the  nightmare  terror  held 
Tracy's  tongue  tight  in  its  grip.  Again  with  an 
effort  he  broke  free. 

"No,  I  don't  doubt  you,  Bruce  Watson,"  he 
mumbled. 

"  That's  all  then."  The  long  figure  relaxed.  The 
blue  eyes  resumed  their  unemotional,  childlike  can 
dour.  "  There's  a  bath  and  dressing-room  upstairs 
if  you  wish  to  use  it :  first  door  to  the  right  of  the  hall. 
We  still  have  forty  minutes.  You  are  at  liberty." 

Promptly  at  4.05  that  afternoon  there  was  a  wed 
ding  in  Mrs.  Waldow's  cheery  east  room.  To  say 
that  the  landlady  herself  presided  with  composure 
would  be  to  speak  untruth;  but  she  was  to  be  par 
doned,  for  it  was  the  first  ceremony  of  the  kind  which 
had  ever  taken  place  under  her  roof.  Likewise  to 


The  Reckoning  297 

state  that  it  was  the  rector  of  Eula  Felkner's  fancy 
who  officiated  would  be  to  chronicle  falsehood.  Epis 
copal  rectors  are  notably  well  nourished,  and  the  gen 
tleman  in  black  and  white  who  intoned  the  formula 
anything  but  fitted  the  specification.  Leastways,  how 
ever,  it  was  all  regular.  If  some  of  the  signatures 
afterward  appended  were  a  bit  uncertain,  they  were 
still  legible,  and  the  big  free  autograph  of  one  of  the 
witnesses,  Bruce  Watson  by  name,  went  far  to  make 
up  the  others'  deficiency.  All  in  all  it  was  a  success 
ful  event.  Weddings  are  proverbially  tense  oc 
casions. 


Chapter  XXI 

BY    THE    ARBITER'S    STANDARD 

IT  was  12.10  A.  M.  by  the  big  clock  in  the  Minnehaha 
County  court-house  tower.  Here  and  there  in  the 
shaded  residence  portion  of  the  town  the  glowing 
tip  of  a  cigar  stared  forth  from  the  darkness  of  a 
veranda — for  in  this  the  hottest  August  Sioux  Falls 
had  ever  known  many  a  bread-winner  was  loth  to 
face  the  heat  within ;  but  as  a  whole  the  tiny  prairie 
city  was  asleep.  The  silence  was  complete,  unbeliev 
ably  complete  to  ears  accustomed  to  the  merely 
diminished  drone  of  a  metropolis ;  so  complete  that  be 
fore  he  reached  the  spot  a  certain  long  doctor,  home 
ward  bound  at  last,  heard  the  tapping  of  a  swarm 
of  summer  beetles  as  they  collided  with  the  globe  of 
the  arc  light  on  the  corner  near  Clayton's  house.  He 
was  an  observer  of  little  things,  this  impassive  man, 
and  he  halted  a  moment  beneath  the  light  medita 
tively,  watching  as  newcomers  after  newcomers,  an 
apparently  inexhaustible  supply,  beat  out  their  life 
against  the  hot  surface.  Doubtless  he  made  certain 
mental  deductions,  for  as  he  looked  his  long  face  as 
sumed  an  expression  so  nearly  cynical  as  the  child- 
candid  eyes  would  permit;  but  he  spoke  no  comment 
— his  was  not  the  nature  to  indulge  in  soliloquy — 
and  after  a  minute  moved  on. 

298 


By  the  Arbiter's  Standard  299 

Almost  before  the  man  had  seated  himself  in 
Horace  Clayton's  cosy  library,  before  his  pipe  was 
alight,  the  telephone  above  rang  noisily.  He  waited 
a  moment.  It  sounded  again.  Again  he  waited  and 
in  second  repetition  it  clattered;  with  a  vehemence 
which  mirrored  central's  state  of  mind.  This  time 
the  man  arose,  climbed  the  stairs;  and  when  very 
shortly  he  returned  it  interrupted  no  more.  The  re 
ceiver  was  dangling  like  a  disused  pendulum  from 
its  cord. 

The  man  lit  his  pipe  and  smoked  steadily  as  an 
engine  until  it  went  dead.  He  refilled  the  bowl  and 
smoked  again  until  the  very  stem  grew  unbearable 
to  the  touch.  Without  a  word  he  knocked  out  the 
ashes  methodically  and  laid  it  upon  the  desk  to  cool. 
From  a  convenient  drawer  he  produced  a  handful  of 
cigars  and  tossed  all  save  one  beside  the  pipe.  That 
one  he  lit,  and  leaned  back,  gazing  up  through  a 
blue  curling  cloud  at  the  ceiling. 

How  many  cigars  followed  that  first  I  will  not 
say.  Their  stumps  gave  ample  testimony  in  the  tray 
at  his  side;  and  after  the  first  he  did  not  use  a  match. 
Neither  will  I  chronicle  how  long  it  took  him  to  con 
sume  them.  The  statement  would  not  be  credited. 
Leastways  he  still  sat  so,  the  curly  blue  cloud,  thicker 
now,  lifting  just  perceptibly  above  his  head  when 
came  the  interruption:  the  almost  timid  buzz  of  the 
electric  door  bell. 

"  Puff,  puff,"  smoked  on  the  man. 

"Buzz-z,"  went  the  bell;  longer,  boldly/ 


300  The  Dissolving  Circle 

The  doctor  listened,  but  he  did  not  stir.  There 
was  a  long  pause;  then: 

"  Buzz-z-z-z,"  with  insistence  unmistakable. 

This  time  the  man  arose,  groped  his  way  through 
the  darkened  vestibule,  placed  his  lips  close  to  the 
glass. 

"  Follow  around  the  path  to  the  right,"  he  called. 
"  This  door  is  locked." 

There  was  no  answer;  but  listening  a  moment  later 
the  doctor  heard  the  diminishing  tap  of  a  rapid  step 
on  the  gravelled  tar. 

Like  the  vestibule,  the  kitchen  was  dark  when  Wat 
son  opened  the  door;  so  dark  that  he  could  barely 
detect  the  outline  of  the  one  who  entered,  could  not 
distinguish  the  face  at  all;  but  it  was  unnecessary. 
There  is  a  sixth  sense  which  tells  us  many  things.  He 
closed  the  door  gently. 

"  Miss  Berkeley,"  he  said. 

"  Bruce  Watson,"  she  echoed. 

They  stood  so  there  in  the  darkness ;  the  man  wait 
ing,  the  woman — what? 

"  Aren't  you  going  to  invite  me  in,  doctor?  "  asked 
a  voice. 

"Will  you  come  to  the  library,  Miss  Berkeley?  " 
responded  an  echo. 

"Thank  you.     Yes." 

The  host  led  the  way  silently,  turned  on  added 
light,  indicated  with  a  nod  the  easiest  chair;  but  did 
not  himself  sit  down.  Again  he  waited. 

On  the  woman's  head  was  a  filmy,  feathery  some- 


By  the  Arbiter's  Standard  301 

thing,  impossible  for  a  man  to  describe,  impossible 
for  another  woman  to  delineate  without  envy,  by 
courtesy  called  a  hat.  About  her  shoulders  was  an 
other  something  even  more  fragile  and  elusive.  Com 
pressed,  it  might  have  filled  a  man's  palm.  Very  de 
liberately  she  removed  both,  held  them  equivocally 
in  her  hand. 

"  I  received  your  note  this  evening,"  she  initiated. 
"  Will  you  kindly  lay  these,"  extending  the  fairy 
trifles,  "  on  the  table  or  somewhere?  " 

Watson  complied,  came  back  as  before. 

"  I  wasn't  surprised  much,"  chatted  on  his  com 
panion,  "  after  what  took  place — and  I'm  all  ready. 
I've  a  trunk  packed  with  a  few  things  I'll  want  some 
time;  but  if  you're  going  light  we  can  send  for  it 
later.  I  don't  suppose  I'll  need  many  dresses  out 
there  anyway;  and  in  the  morning  before  we  start 
you  can  tell  me  just  what  I'll  want  for  the  present." 

Watson  sat  down,  selected  a  fresh  cigar,  lit  it  in 
silence. 

"  The  rest  of  my  things  are  to  be  stored."  Two 
brown  arms,  bare  to  the  elbow  in  their  half  sleeves, 
locked  behind  the  visitor's  head.  "  The  house  seemed 
lonesome  when  I  left  it;  and  Erma — she's  my  maid, 
you  know — cried.  I  thought  she  was  only  afraid  of 
me,  but  she  actually  cried  and  begged  to  go  along." 
The  dark  eyes  went  to  her  companion,  lingered  on 
his  face  peculiarly.  "  Could  we — possibly  take  her 
along,  Bruce?  I  told  her  not;  but — but  she  hates 
so  much  to  leave  me." 


302  The  Dissolving  Circle 

Impassive  apparently  as  an  Indian  the  man  smoked 
on.  For  any  indication  he  gave  to  the  contrary  he 
might  not  have  heard  a  word,  might  have  been  alone. 

Beneath  the  woman's  dark  head  the  two  hands  met, 
locked  tightly.  Just  for  a  second  a  soft  lip  trembled, 
caught  itself  repressedly. 

"  It's  been  terribly  hot  here  this  summer,"  tensely, 
"  almost  as  hot  as  New  York,  and  I  can  hardly  wait 
to  get  away.  I've  been  thinking  of  the  prairies  every 
day,  how  cool  it  must  be  there  nights,  how  it  must 
sound  to  hear  a  tent  flapping  over  one's  head  or  the 
curtains  of  a  prairie  schooner.  I've  tried  to  fancy 
what  buffalo  grass  smells  like.  You  know  you  tried 

to  tell  me  once;  but — but Bruce  " — of  a  sudden 

the  bare  arms  shot  out  imploringly,  the  repressed 
voice  became  a  wail,  a  prayer — "  don't  sit  there  like 
that.  Speak  to  me;  in  God's  name  speak  to  me.  I 
can't  stand  this  any  longer.  Speak  to  me !  " 

For  the  first  time  the  man  turned.  The  cigar  left 
his  lips  and  he  looked  into  the  dark  passionate  face 
steadily;  like  a  fate.  For  a  moment  he  did  not  utter 
a  sound,  only  looked  at  her;  then  like  an  athlete  be 
fore  a  supreme  effort  he  drew  a  long  breath. 

"  There's  nothing  I  can  say,  Miss  Berkeley,  more 
than  I  said  that  last  morning  we  met.  God  knows, 
if,"  slowly,  "  there  is  a  God, — I  wish  there  were  some 
thing  more.  I  wouldn't  have  told  you  I  was  going  in 
the  morning  if  I  hadn't  promised;  and  we'd  both  have 
been  spared — this.  I'd  simply  have  gone  and  then — 
time  would  have  done  the  rest."  He  breathed  deep 


By  the  Arbiter's  Standard  303 

again;  his  free  hand  tightened  on  the  arm  of  his 
chair.  "  What  you  suggest  is  impossible.  You  can't 
go  with  me;  go  as  I  am  going,  live  as  I  shall  live. 
The  idea  is  madness,  Miss  Berkeley,  madness." 

The  woman's  black  eyes  did  not  waver.  She  had 
expected  this,  was  prepared. 

"  But  I  am  going,  Bruce  Watson.  Nothing  is  im 
possible  after  it's  done.  As  surely  as  you  go  to-day 
I'm  going  with  you.  You  can't  prevent  it.  I've  de 
cided.  I  am  going." 

The  man  dropped  the  glowing  stump  into  the  tray. 
His  arms  folded  across  his  chest;  but  he  said  nothing. 

"  I  told  you  before,"  passionately,  "  I'd  ask  noth 
ing,  and  I  won't.  I'm  strong  and  healthy — as  Nature 
herself.  I  can  stand  any  life  that  you  can  stand — and 
I  will.  I  simply  won't  give  you  up,  won't  let  you 
pass  out  of  my  life  until  you  give  me  a  reason;  and 
you  haven't  yet.  Can't  you  understand,  Bruce? 
You've  got  to  take  me  along.  It's  inevitable.  I  ab 
solutely  won't  stay  behind." 

Even  yet  the  man  said  nothing.  He  merely  looked 
away.  That  was  all. 

Not  so  with  the  woman.  She  arose  swiftly,  came 
forward,  compelled  his  attention. 

"  I  repeat,  you've  given  no  adequate  reason,"  she 
voiced.  u  Give  one  now  and  I'll  go.  I'm  not  mad; 
I'm  merely  human.  I've  lived  a  lifetime  in  the  last 
few  years  and  I've  grown  wiser.  I  love  you,  Bruce 
Watson,  repressedly  primitive  as  you  are,  love  you  as 
the  first  woman  loved  the  first  man;  and  you,  down 


304  The  Dissolving  Circle 

in  your  inmost  soul,  care  for  me  a  little,  more  than 
you'll  admit  even  to  yourself.  How  I  know  this  I 
can't  tell.  We  women  are  creatures  of  instinct,  and 
instinct  tells  me  it's  so.  To  hint  that  because  we  both 
lived  life  as  we  found  it  before  we  met,  we  must 
go  on  living  it  apart,  is  a  farce.  To  conform  to  a 
convention  which  demands  that  I  must  wait  until 
you  awake,  come  to  me — is 'mockery.  We're  living 
to-day.  The  future  is  a  blank.  Let's  make  the  most 
of  the  now.  The  last  remnants  of  your  past  are  dead. 
You  buried  them  irrevocably  a  few  hours  ago.  There 
can't  be  a  reason,  an  adequate  reason,  why  I  shouldn't 
go  with  you.  There  can't." 

Just  perceptibly  the  man  stirred. 

"Can't?"  gently. 

"  Yes,  can't.  To  do  what  you  did  and  still  love 
her It's  impossible." 

Distinctly  this  time  the  man  moved.  His  great 
bushy  head  indicated  his  companion's  former  seat. 

"  Sit  down,  please,"  he  requested. 

The  woman  hesitated,  her  breath  coming  fast. 

"  Please  sit  down,"  repeated. 

Against  her  will  Flora  Berkeley  complied.  The 
intangible  something  in  that  impressive  man  to  which 
human  after  human  had  succumbed,  compelled.  For 
the  first  time  in  their  checkered  acquaintance  she  re 
cognised  to  the  full  her  own  impotence,  his  dominance 
absolute.  Of  a  sudden  a  great  sob  struggled  in  her 
throat;  but  she  choked  it  back.  After  a  time  maybe; 
but  not  yet,  not  until He  was  speaking. 


'By  the  Arbiter's  Standard  305 

"  Did  you  happen,  Miss  Berkeley,  to  notice  any 
thing  particular  on  the  corner  as  you  were  passing?  " 
irrelevantly. 

She  could  not  believe  her  ears. 

The  query  was  repeated  word  for  word. 

"  No,"  she  said. 

"  Not  the  arc  and  the  beetles?  " 

"  Yes/'  gropingly,  "  I  saw  them.  I  couldn't  help 
it." 

"  How  they  wanted  the  light,  wanted  it  so  much 
that You  noticed  the  ground  beneath?  " 

'*  Yes,"  again.     She  began  to  understand  now. 

The  long  face  softened  almost  unbelievably. 

"  Did  it  occur  to  you  how  like  human  beings  they 
were;  how  blindly,  unreasonably  rebellious  because 
they  couldn't  have  what  they  wanted?  Do  you  fancy 
you  are  alone  in  wanting  the  unattainable,  my 
friend?" 

The  woman  sank  back  in  her  chair.  Her  eyes 
closed.  At  last  she  understood  all. 

"  You  mean  you  still  care  for  her?"  she  said 
monotonously. 

"  Yes." 

"  After  what  she  has  done  in  the  past,  after  what 
she  was  willing,  exultant  to  do  yesterday?  I  know 
everything,  Bruce.  I  called  on  her  myself  to  make 
sure.  After  all  that  you  still  care  for  her?  " 

'  Yes.  I  am  as  nature  made  me.  I  still  care  for 
her." 

For  a  moment  the  woman  remained  so,  passive ; 


306  The  Dissolving  Circle 

then  of  a  sudden  she  roused.  The  black  eyes  opened 
wide. 

"  Nevertheless,  you've  lost  her,  lost  her  love  as 
irrevocably  as  though  she  were  buried.  Those  are  her 
own  words,  Bruce  Watson;  as  irrevocably  as  though 
she  were  buried." 

"Yes,"  simply. 

"And  you  have  no  other  love;  you  told  me  so 


once." 


"  No.     I  have  none  other." 

Despite  her  effort  to  prevent  the  questioner's  dark 
face  flamed. 

"  Yet  you  have  a  friendship.  You  just  called  me 
friend,  and  long  ago  you  said  friendship  was  very, 
very  near — you've  not  frogotten?" 

"  No,  I've  not  forgotten." 

"  Isn't  it  possible,  then,"  swiftly,  significantly, 
"  more  than  possible " 

Interrupting,  Watson  arose;  not  deliberately,  but 
almost  precipitately.  In  the  repressed  silence  of  a 
caged  wild  thing  he  strode  back  and  forth,  back  and 
forth ;  the  floor  throbbing  under  his  heavy  tread.  At 
last  he  stopped. 

"  I've  thought  of  that;  thought  of  everything.  As 
a  friend  I  like  you.  More  than  friendship — I've  tried 
to  convince  myself,  tried  honestly,  that  my  feeling 
was  more ;  but  in  my  own  mind  I  know  it  was  sophis 
try.  I  can't  lie  to  you,  Flora  Berkeley.  What  the  fu 
ture  holds  in  store  nature's  God  alone  knows;  but 
now — I  do  not  love  you  now." 


By  the  Arbiter's  Standard  307 

In  a  flash  the  woman  was  likewise  standing  facing 
him. 

"  You  admit  then,"  her  eyes  were  very  bright, 
"  that  I  am  more  to  you  than  other  women,  that  there 
is  a  possibility  in  future — a  possibility " 

"  Yes-,  Miss  Berkeley,  a  possibility." 

The  brown  fingers  were  clasping  and  unclasping 
repressedly. 

"  Where,  then,  is  your  adequate  reason  for  my  not 
going  with  you,  Bruce  Watson?  I  ask  nothing  of 
you  now,  will  ask  nothing  in  future  save  to  be  with 
you.  Where  is  the  reason?  " 

For  a  long  half  minute  the  man  did  not  answer. 
Human  nature  is  very  like  in  this  world  of  ours,  and 
the  identical  plea  of  another  brown  little  woman  was 
very  fresh  in  his  memory. 

"  The  reason,  Miss  Berkeley,"  steadily,  "  is  be 
cause  you  and  I  are  not  the  first  man  and  the  first 
woman.  We  laugh  at  convention,  in  the  abstract 
ignore  it;  but  in  the  concrete  it  rules  our  lives.  Search 
the  world  over  and  there's  not  a  place  free  from  its 
tyranny.  The  range  country  seems  deserted,  unpopu 
lated,  comparatively  it  is  so.  We  might  travel  there 
for  days  and  never  see  a  white  face;  but  eventually 
we  would  meet  our  fellows  and  then — you  know 
as  well  as  I  what  would  be  the  first  question  asked 
then;  know  also  how  well  either  of  us  lie.  We  could 
no  more  live  as  you  suggest  there  than  here.  Rough 
?s  those  men  are,  they'd  brand  you  unclean;  brand 
you  quicker  than  though  you  were  in  the  heart  of 


308  The  Dissolving  Circle 

New  York.  Even  the  women  who  live  similar  lives 
would  despise  you.  You  can't  conceive  now  what  it 
would  mean;  but  you'd  discover  full  quickly.  You 
might  do  it,  we  might  do  it;  but  the  price  would  be 
too  great.  Life  itself  would  be  dear  at  such  price." 

Wearily,  desperately  wearily,  the  woman  moved 
forward  until  she  leaned  against  the  desk.  She 
thought  she  had  considered  everything;  but  this — no, 
she  had  not  before  thought  of  this.  She  was  travel 
ling  in  a  circle  and  back  where  she  started  from ;  and 
hopeless — almost. 

"  I  don't  doubt  you,  Bruce,"  she  halted.  "  I  un 
derstand  the  reason  now,  the  adequate  reason — your 
reason."  She  looked  up  almost  timidly.  "  I  can't 
go  with  you,  I  see  that,  but  I  can  wait.  You  can  go, 

as  you  intended,  and  when  you  come  back,  then " 

She  halted;  something  in  the  other's  look  compelled. 

"  Do  you  fancy,  Miss  Berkeley,"  soberly,  "  I  would 
come  back?  Fancy  if  I  once  permitted  myself  to 
listen  to  the  call  of  the  wild  I  would  ever  return?  " 

Blind  terror  gripped  anew  at  the  woman's  throat, 
spoke  in  her  gaze. 

"  Yes.  For  my  sake  you  would,  wouldn't  you, 
Bruce?" 

Very  gently  the  great  bushy  head  shook  negation. 

"  No,  I  repeat,  I  can't  lie  to  you.  I  know  myself 
and  realise  I'd  never  return.  Once  I  might  have  done 
so,  but  not  now.  I  know  this  double-faced  life  of 
civilisation  too  well,  hate  it  too  much."  For  a  second 
the  same  look  which  had  confronted  John  Ingley 


By  the  Arbiter's  Standard  309 

flashed  in  his  eyes.  "  It's  useless  to  try  to  explain  to 
you,  for  you  wouldn't  understand.  Money  and  am 
bition  mean  nothing  to  me;  what  I  want  is  solitude, 
nature.  I'm  like  a  child  crying  for  its  mother,  a 
Christian  calling  for  his  God.  You'll  laugh  at  me, 
but  I  can't  breathe  even  here  sometimes.  I  wake  up 
at  night  with  the  roll  of  a  pony  beneath  me,  the 
patter  of  its  feet  on  the  sod  in  my  ears,  the  rush  of 
the  wind  in  my  face,  the  smell  of  the  wild  in  my  nose. 
More  than  once  I've  locked  my  door  and  thrown  the 
key  into  the  darkest  corner  to  keep  from  going  then. 
It  will  always  be  so.  I'll  never  change;  any  more 
than  the  colour  of  my  eyes  will  change.  Once  free, 
I'd  never  return,  Flora  Berkeley,  never."  He 
dropped  back  in  his  chair,  staring  straight  before 
him;  his  great  jointed  hands  lying  listless  in  his  lap. 
A  minute,  minutes  passed.  Then  of  a  sudden,  in 
terrupting,  harsh  always,  harsher  now  by  contrast 
with  the  silence,  sounded  a  single  note :  the  lone  call 
of  an  early-awakened  cat-bird  from  the  maple  tree 
just  outside  the  open  window.  The  nights  were  very 
short  and  it  was  already  almost  morning.  Responsive 
the  woman  straightened.  She  had  tried  logic,  tried 
reason — and  failed.  One  thing  alone  she  had  not 
tried.  Whether  she  had  the  right  to  this  last  appeal, 
whether  any  human  being  had  the  right,  she  did  not 
consider.  She  was  desperate;  fighting  for  something 
beside  which  life  itself  was  a  worthless,  paltry  thing. 
Slowly  she  moved  forward,  touched  the  other  on  the 
shoulder. 


310  The  Dissolving  Circle 

"  You  must  not  go,  then/'  she  said. 

The  man  looked  up. 

"  I  say  you  must  never  go,"  she  repeated. 

Not  a  muscle  of  the  long  face  quivered,  not  an  eye 
lid. 

"  Do  you  realise  what  you  are  asking,"  queried  a 
voice,  "  realise  what  it  will  mean  to  me?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  And  realise  what  it  will  mean  to  yourself,  not 
now,  but  when  you  have  had  time  to  think?  " 

"  Yes,"  again. 

Once  more  the  cat-bird  called.  The  electric  light 
over  the  desk  began  to  look  dull  and  greyish. 

u  I  can't  misunderstand  you."  Still  the  man  did 
not  stir.  "  You  mean  I  shall  renounce  everything  I 
care  for,  live  on  here  or  elsewhere  as  I'm  living  now. 
You,"  steadily,  "  mean  I  shall  marry  you?  " 

"  Yes,  I  mean  you  shall  marry  me,  Bruce  Watson." 

For  a  long  time  they  looked  at  each  other;  as  they 
had  never  looked  before,  as  gazes  a  scientist  who 
seeks  the  mystery  of  life.  It  was  the  man  who  first 
moved.  Deliberately  this  time  he  arose,  straightened 
to  his  full  height. 

u  Pardon  me,  Miss  Berkeley,"  he  voiced  gently, 
"  but  I  must  ask  you  a  question.  You  may  do  as  you 
wish  about  answering;  but  at  least  I  must  ask  it. 
Have  I  to-night  or  at  any  former  time,  by  word  or 
act,  given  you  the  right  to  demand  what  you  did  just 
demand?  If  I  have,  I  wish  to  know;  if  not,  you  need 
not  answer." 


By  the  Arbiter's  Standard  311 

There  was  a  long  pause;  but  the  woman  said  never 
a  word. 

"  One  other  thing."  No  trace  of  offence  was  in 
the  voice  nor  of  condemnation;  only  a  great  serious 
ness.  "  John  Ingley,  Doctor  Ingley,  wishes  me  to  do 
certain  things;  more  than  wishes,  begs  me  to  do  them. 

I  saw  him  last  evening.  He Do  you  know  what 

he  wishes,  Miss  Berkeley?  " 

With  the  instinctive  motion  of  a  child  the  woman's 
hands  went  to  her  face,  for  a  moment  covered  it. 

"  Yes,"  she  confessed,  "  I  saw  him  too.  I  know 
everything,  Bruce." 

With  the  old,  old  involuntary  trick  the  man's  arms 
folded  across  his  chest.  His  great  chin  lifted  in  air. 

"  We  understand  each  other,  then,"  he  said.  "  I 
have  but  one  more  question  to  ask.  Look  at  me, 
please." 

The  woman  glanced  up;  haltingly,  fearfully.  To 
the  bottom  of  her  soul  she  felt  the  scrutiny  of  those 
masterful,  child-wide  eyes. 

"  Once  upon  a  time,"  began  the  man  evenly,  "  I 
took  it  upon  myself  to  judge  another  man  and  to 
sentence  him  by  the  will  of  the  woman  who  loved 
him.  He  who  judges  others  should  be  willing  by  the 
same  standard  to  be  himself  judged.  I  accept.  Your 
will  shall  be  my  will,  for  right  or  wrong;  but  first, 
just  another  word."  He  paused,  but  he  did  not  stir. 
He  scarcely  seemed  to  breathe.  "  This  is  not  the 
climax  of  a  story  book,  Flora  Berkeley,  but  life,  real 
life.  The  thing  you  decide  now  we  both  must  live; 


312  The  Dissolving  Circle 

day  by  day,  year  by  year.  After  you  choose  the  de 
cision  is  irrevocable.  I  neither  extol  nor  condemn 
divorce  in  others;  every  human  being  is  a  law  unto 
itself;  but  for  me  there  is  no  separation  possible.  If 
I  marry  you  it  will  be  until  death.  I  shall  give  you 
no  cause  for  protest;  I  shall  consider  no  cause  ade 
quate  myself.  Don't  turn  away,  please.  I  was  never 
so  serious  in  my  life — and  this  is  my  last  word :  You 
know,  as  well  as  you  can  ever  understand,  what  it 
means  for  me  to  remain  here.  You  know  without 
parley  that  you  could  not,  would  not,  live  out  of 
civilisation  for  a  single  year,  that  my  residence  therein 
would  be  inevitable.  You  know  that  whatever  the 
future  holds,  that  now,  while  you  make  your  decision, 
I  care  for  you  only  as  a  friend.  With  this  in  mind, 
as  you  know  life,  as  you  love  me,  do  you  still  feel 
the  same,  still  wish  me  to  marry  you?  I  shall  not 
ask  you  again.  I  shall  abide  by  your  decision.  Look 
me  fair  in  the  eyes  and  answer,  Flora  Berkeley." 

The  voice  halted  and  silence  fell;  silence  so  deep 
that  to  the  woman  the  sound  of  her  own  pulse-beat 
rang  in  her  ears  as  a  distant  storm.  The  light  of 
morning  had  become  positive  now,  filtered  softly 
into  the  room ;  but  neither  noticed,  neither  cared.  At 
first  but  one  thought  was  in  Flora  Berkeley's  mind; 
the  supreme  irrevocability  of  this  question  she  was 
to  answer,  its  absolute  finality.  She  had  attended  a 
country  funeral  once;  a  funeral  without  affectation 
or  the  pomp  of  wealth.  In  a  flash  of  memory  the 
recollection  returned  to  her  now ;  the  silent  watchers, 


By  the  Arbiter's  Standard  313 

the  bare-headed  pastor,  the  dropping,  dropping  of  the 
clods  on  the  coffin  below.  She  caught  her  breath.  It 
was  all  so  like  the  question  she  was  to  answer;  the 
question  which — of  a  sudden,  inevitably  insistent,  the 
present  intruded.  Again  with  a  quick  intake  of  breath 
came  the  first  realisation  of  the  extent  of  the  boon 
proffered;  came  conception  of  its  completeness  abso 
lute.  Swift  as  thought  followed  a  vision  of  the  tender 
rejected,  of  renunciation.  She  recalled  the  past  sum 
mer;  the  long,  long,  lonely  summer.  Her  whole  being 
rose  in  revolt  at  the  memory.  In  a  flood  the  hot 
blood  returned,  tingled  to  her  finger  tips.  She  loved 
this  man;  loved  him.  Was  that  not  justification  suf 
ficient  for  acceptance — sufficient  for  anything?  In 
an  abandon  she  thrust  every  other  consideration 
aside;  every  thought  of  the  sacrifice  the  proffer  meant, 
every  shadowy  doubt  of  future.  She  was  selfish 
wholly,  sublimely,  obliviously  selfish;  but  with 
the  instinctive  egoism  which  prompts  a  parent 
to  bring  into  the  world  a  child.  She  remembered 
only  that  the  man  she  loved  was  very  near,  that  he 
was  awaiting  her  answer,  that  he  was  hers,  hers — 
hers  for  all  time  by  a  single  word.  Her  dark  face 
flamed  afresh.  Her  throat  throbbed  until  she  could 
scarcely  speak.  She  stepped  forward;  threw  out  her 
bare  arms  passionately. 

"  Bruce,"  she  cried,  "  Bruce  Watson!  " 
One  of  the  man's  hands  lifted  detainingly;  but  not 
in  a  muscle  otherwise  did  he  stir. 

"  Answer  me  first,  please.     Let  me  hear  you  say 
it.     You  wish  it  so?  " 


312  The  Dissolving  Circle 

day  by  day,  year  by  year.  After  you  choose  the  de 
cision  is  irrevocable.  I  neither  extol  nor  condemn 
divorce  in  others;  every  human  being  is  a  law  unto 
itself;  but  for  me  there  is  no  separation  possible.  If 
I  marry  you  it  will  be  until  death.  I  shall  give  you 
no  cause  for  protest;  I  shall  consider  no  cause  ade 
quate  myself.  Don't  turn  away,  please.  I  was  never 
so  serious  in  my  life — and  this  is  my  last  word :  You 
know,  as  well  as  you  can  ever  understand,  what  it 
means  for  me  to  remain  here.  You  know  without 
parley  that  you  could  not,  would  not,  live  out  of 
civilisation  for  a  single  year,  that  my  residence  therein 
would  be  inevitable.  You  know  that  whatever  the 
future  holds,  that  now,  while  you  make  your  decision, 
I  care  for  you  only  as  a  friend.  With  this  in  mind, 
as  you  know  life,  as  you  love  me,  do  you  still  feel 
the  same,  still  wish  me  to  marry  you?  I  shall  not 
ask  you  again.  I  shall  abide  by  your  decision.  Look 
me  fair  in  the  eyes  and  answer,  Flora  Berkeley." 

The  voice  halted  and  silence  fell;  silence  so  deep 
that  to  the  woman  the  sound  of  her  own  pulse-beat 
rang  in  her  ears  as  a  distant  storm.  The  light  of 
morning  had  become  positive  now,  filtered  softly 
into  the  room;  but  neither  noticed,  neither  cared.  At 
first  but  one  thought  was  in  Flora  Berkeley's  mind; 
the  supreme  irrevocability  of  this  question  she  was 
to  answer,  its  absolute  finality.  She  had  attended  a 
country  funeral  once;  a  funeral  without  affectation 
or  the  pomp  of  wealth.  In  a  flash  of  memory  the 
recollection  returned  to  her  now ;  the  silent  watchers, 


By  the  Arbiter's  Standard  313 

the  bare-headed  pastor,  the  dropping,  dropping  of  the 
clods  on  the  coffin  below.  She  caught  her  breath.  It 
was  all  so  like  the  question  she  was  to  answer;  the 
question  which — of  a  sudden,  inevitably  insistent,  the 
present  intruded.  Again  with  a  quick  intake  of  breath 
came  the  first  realisation  of  the  extent  of  the  boon 
proffered;  came  conception  of  its  completeness  abso 
lute.  Swift  as  thought  followed  a  vision  of  the  tender 
rejected,  of  renunciation.  She  recalled  the  past  sum 
mer;  the  long,  long,  lonely  summer.  Her  whole  being 
rose  in  revolt  at  the  memory.  In  a  flood  the  hot 
blood  returned,  tingled  to  her  finger  tips.  She  loved 
this  man;  loved  him.  Was  that  not  justification  suf 
ficient  for  acceptance — sufficient  for  anything?  In 
an  abandon  she  thrust  every  other  consideration 
aside;  every  thought  of  the  sacrifice  the  proffer  meant, 
every  shadowy  doubt  of  future.  She  was  selfish 
wholly,  sublimely,  obliviously  selfish;  but  with 
the  instinctive  egoism  which  prompts  a  parent 
to  bring  into  the  world  a  child.  She  remembered 
only  that  the  man  she  loved  was  very  near,  that  he 
was  awaiting  her  answer,  that  he  was  hers,  hers — 
hers  for  all  time  by  a  single  word.  Her  dark  face 
flamed  afresh.  Her  throat  throbbed  until  she  could 
scarcely  speak.  She  stepped  forward;  threw  out  her 
bare  arms  passionately. 

"  Bruce,"  she  cried,  "  Bruce  Watson!  " 
One  of  the  man's  hands  lifted  detainingly;  but  not 
in  a  muscle  otherwise  did  he  stir. 

"  Answer  me  first,  please.     Let  me  hear  you  say 
it.     You  wish  it  so?  " 


314  The  Dissolving  Circle 

The  woman  halted;  but  her  eyes  did  not  falter. 
"  Yes,"  she  said.     "  I  wish  it  so." 
"  And  you  will  never  regret — never?  " 
"No,"  tensely.     "As  God  is  my  judge,  never!" 
The  man's  hand  dropped,   and  instinctively  the 
woman  took  another  step  forward;  but  for  the  last 
time  he  halted  her. 

"  Not  yet,  please — not  for  a  moment."  His  long, 
thin  face  softened,  softened  as  no  human  being  would 
have  believed  possible.  Into  the  blue  eyes  crept  a 
look  akin  to  fear;  of  wonder  unspeakable.  "  I  wish 
to  think;  to  realise  it  all.  You  care  for  me  so  much 
you  wish  to  do  this  thing;  knowing  all,  you  still  wish 
to  marry  me;  me,  Bruce  Watson! — Is  it  possible  you 
love  me  so  much,  Flora  Berkeley?  Am  I,  is  any 
man,  worth  it,  worth  such  love?  " 

"  Worth  it !  "  In  abandon  absolute  the  woman 
was.  beside  him.  "Worth  it!"  Her  arms  were 
about  his  neck,  her  glorious  dark  head  on  his  shoul 
der.  "Worth  it!"  again  repeated.  "Don't  ever 
speak  that  question  to  me  again;  don't  ever  suggest 
it.  I  don't  dare  look  you  in  the  face  yet  as  it  is.  It 
is  I,  if  either,  who  should  put  that  query,  Bruce  Wat 
son.".  Her  lithe  body  pressed  close;  throbbingly 
close.  So  long  repressed,  the  hot  tears  came  to  her 
eyes  uncontrollably.  Her  voice  trembled.  "  I  can't 
justify  myself,  can't  justify  anything.  I  only  know 
I  have  you,  have  you  irrevocably.  Know  this  and 
that  I  love  you,  man;  love  you,  love  you  I  "  She  was 
silent. 


YC  96825 


